WNC working women’s status report:Although constituting half the labor force, only 6% of Yemeni women have paid work [Archives:2007/1057/Reportage]
Rasha Jarhum
[email protected]
The Yemeni government has made increasing women's economic participation to 5 percent annually an objective of its third Five-Year National Plan to be met by 2010.
Objectives also include halving poverty for poor women, increasing women's participation to 8 percent annually in the education and health sectors and 4 percent in industrial sectors.
The Women's National Committee also has set increasing women's economic participation to 30 percent as its objective to be met by 2010.
According to 2005 statistical compilations, Yemeni women's economic participation was 9.3 percent in 2004. A draft of the committee's 2006 National Report on Women's Status shows that the Yemeni labor force involving those age 15 and above was nearly 10.82 million in 2004, of which 50.4 percent were men and 49.6 percent were women.
Of that percentage of female labor force, only 8.8 percent of Yemeni women were working, and of those, only 6.8 percent were considered to have a form of paid work, while the rest, accounting for 39.5 percent, were unemployed.
In fact, the report shows that Yemeni women's unemployment has increased five times since 1999, as it was only 8 percent at that time. In contrast, Yemeni men's unemployment didn't vary much, being 12 percent in 1999 and 13.1 percent in 2004, which is ironic when compared to Yemen's economic growth.
Reem, a university student, states, “I want to get a job, not only to have a sense of independence or to help out my family, but also to improve the nation's economy because we live in a country that's less developed. If 50 percent of the population is just sitting there and doing nothing, how will we ever progress?”
However, fellow university student Ibrahim disagrees, explaining, “Jobs are limited and we have high unemployment. Men have priority to get jobs over women because they have a family to support, whereas women spend their money on lipstick and makeup.” This isn't completely true, as a 1998 women's committee study revealed that 13 percent of working Yemeni women are their families' main breadwinners.
The above attitude reflects the continuing constraints preventing women from joining the Yemeni labor market characterized by poor economic conditions and, more importantly, in persisting values and traditions biased toward men's advantage.
As government employee Fatima complains, “We're more dedicated to our jobs than men. Men leave as late as noon to buy the qat of the day, while you see women go home as late as 6 p.m. After all this, they appoint a man who graduated from college at least five years after you and with zero experience to be your supervisor!”
The latest U.N. human development report for 2005 indicates that women's economic participation in the Arab region is the world's lowest. The report indicates that although the very low economic growth rate hinders women's participation in economic activity, traditional perceptions of men as the family breadwinner, as well as prioritizing men's employment over women's, plays a significant role in women's unemployment.
Sami, an employer in the private sector, comments, “I prefer to employ men, first because they are the breadwinners of the family and second, because they can perform better than women. When you hire a woman, she comes in very excited and motivated at first, but after awhile, she loses all that. Also, women are moody and talkative. In our office, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. is the time for the women to meet in the office kitchen, eat and talk.”
Such behavior results from management being gender blind or neutral, as Fiona Wilson indicates in her book, “Organizational Behavior and Gender,” which could be its own topic in another article.
According to the 2005 Annual Statistics Book, employment statistics by sector reflect occupational segregation, with women's employment being highest in the education sector in both the public and private spheres, at 59 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
The private trade sector comes in second at 18.6 percent, followed by the private health and social sector at 17.9 percent. In third place is the public health sector with 15.9 percent, followed by public administration and the governmental defense sector at 8.5 percent.
Private sector employee Ali asserts, “I think women should only work in health and education, teaching little children, because it's more appropriate. Women shouldn't work in a mixed working environment with men, nor should they be alone in the company of a male worker because it's not only inappropriate, it's also haram.” There are many interpretations of the Islamic perspective on women working, of which this is one.
Discrimination against working women is also exists in wages and earnings. An International Labor Organization study reveals that women receive less monthly earnings than men, but such wage discrepancy is minimal, as it takes into account that women generally work less hours than men.
However, the study found that a man will earn double that of a woman in technical occupations, where less than 2 percent of workers are women. In other occupational categories, the study reveals no prominent difference between wages and earnings for men and women.
According to the 2004 World Bank MENA Report, the ratio of women's wages to men's wages in Yemen was 0.64 in 2000 and estimated to reach 0.68 in the absence of discrimination.
Government employee Salwa states, “Although we might have the same salaries, all of the rewards, remunerations and promotions go to men, even if a woman has the same qualifications and experience. In my work, I've seen all of the rewards and remunerations go to men with less qualifications, experience and performance, while women – who work harder, are more committed, more qualified and more experienced – receive nothing. Women then feel less motivated, asking themselves, why work if he's always going to get the money?”
The International Labor Organization study further reveals that men also are given priority regarding training opportunities. For example, out of 31,915 employees at a different organization, 91 percent of men, compared to only 9 percent of women, received training.
As private sector employer Sami explains, “If I'm going to train someone, I'm going to train someone who's constant, who will increase my profits and be worthwhile – and that's a man. Women often leave work when they get married because the decision to continue working isn't in their hands.”
The ILO study confirms that discrimination in recruiting women is prominent in a large number of private sector establishments, which view employing women as a costly endeavor, such as the costs incurred when they take paid maternity leave, as is their right under the labor law.
Furthermore, the study drew attention to other seeming problems in the Yemeni labor market, represented by skills shortages, skills gaps and mismatching of jobs and skills.
Women generally were found to be less skilled than men, with private establishments identifying lack of specific skills among women, such as English language knowledge, accounting skills, good administrative and executive skills, secretarial skills, computer knowledge and marketing skills. Mismatching of jobs and skills also is higher among women.
The ILO study reveals that most employed women who are university graduates work as secretaries, fax operators, customer service representatives, bank tellers and ticketing and reservation specialists at travel agencies.
Poor mismatch was highest among general training institute graduates, with 22.8 percent, university graduates at 20.7 percent and technical and vocational training center graduates at 18.9 percent.
As private sector employee Nuha complains, “Many of my women friends who graduated from business schools, in software engineering and even architecture mostly work as secretaries or management assistants. They're still in the same position after three to five years, unlike the men, where you hear that X is the CEO of this company and Y is the general manager at that ministry.”
In terms of prioritizing the employment of women, the ILO study reveals that among 7,113 establishments surveyed, only 4.4 percent acknowledged preferential treatment in employing women, while 84.6 percent admitted favoring men and the remaining establishments reported no gender priority.
It further found that those establishments that prioritized employing women assigned them to positions in the sectors of education, health and personnel services, respectively, which traditionally are considered to be oriented toward women in Yemeni culture.
The ILO study also notes that there are new emerging economic activities that are very conducive to employing women, including transportation, communications, real estate and financial services.
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