Critical, even alarming, levels of inequality is unfolding a situation of economic insecurity for a vast majority of women, particularly in South Asia, as women labour force participation rate is at the lowest -- a declining 22% for women against 77% for men as per International Labour Organization (ILO) estimation of 2022 (a difference of a staggering 55%).
This level of difference raises some hard questions: Why are women in South Asia not working and what is preventing even the educated women workforce from getting into any meaningful income generation activity?
Labour market tougher on women
Unsurprisingly, women labour force participation rate is as low as 14.85% in Afghanistan. Afghanistan, which has seen a precipitous deterioration since the Taliban seized power is set to see things worsen after their ban on girls in the education system.
The ILO documented a 25% drop in women’s employment levels by late 2022 in the country. A recent World Bank report provides the grim picture of Afghanistan as women-managed business enterprises are worst affected by the failing economy and restriction, forcing nearly 42% of them to temporarily close.
India with such an impressive growth track record in the last couple of decades, also disappoints in this indicator, as with a 685 million women population, India’s women labour force participation is as low as 19.23%.
The other countries in the region echo the same pattern of dismal participation of women in labour; Pakistan (20.73%) , Sri Lanka (30.90%), Maldives (34.33%), Bangladesh (34.87%).
The story of women inequality in the labour market does not end here. More than half of working women in the region are engaged in the informal or unorganized labour market, which is characterized by extremely low wages, lack of social protection, and no legal recognition.
For instance, 92.3% of women in Bangladesh are employed in the informal sector, while 84.7% in India, 91.8% in Nepal, and 75.7% in Pakistan. Employment in the informal sector is associated with poor working conditions and poor remuneration and large scale exploitation. All the numbers point to a stark fact: South Asia is the world’s “no working women” hotspot. With this trend, the global agenda to bring gender equality in all spheres of women’s life and livelihood looks further away than ever.
Nearly one billion women don’t have the same economic opportunities as men
When women earn their own money -- or even when they get to engage for a better income -- their health, influence in the domestic sphere, and standing in society gets better.
The staggering gender inequality in workforce participation is making the lives of women in the region more complex, vulnerable, and insecure. This extreme level of inequality in accessing economic participation in the family and society is slowly pushing millions of women to almost second class citizen status in their own countries.
Whether it is women having a bank account, owning land, using the internet or mobile phones, all data is leading to one conclusion: We are completely off track on bringing gender equality in the region.
Depressing data
Let’s examine some of these data to understand how non-participation of women in economic activity is affecting women’s life and living.
In India, the total number of savings bank accounts at the end of January 2023 was 225.5 crore, out of which only over 79 crore (35.23%) are owned by women. Similarly, only 13% women (70 million active bank accounts maintained by men compared to 14 million by women ) in Pakistan own a bank account, the fourth lowest in the world. In Bangladesh, less than half (43%) of women have bank accounts, and despite having accounts, 4.3 million women have not used their accounts in the last 12 months.
And then, the women in the region are 41% less likely than men to use mobile internet. Talking about land ownership, women own 10.10% of land in Bangladesh, 14% in India, 9.7% in Nepal and only 2% in Pakistan.
Levelling the playing field is the solution
Among the hindrances identified for more participation from women are unpaid care work, domestic responsibilities, limited mobility, inaccessibility to information, and rigidity in working hours.
Women’s integration into the formal job market is increasingly being disrupted by vague socio-cultural and religious barriers. We do not lack proclamations of political commitments at the national and regional levels or available solutions. What we have is a collective failure to translate these commitments into effective action.
We need more action to level the playing field and ensure that having children doesn’t mean women are excluded from full participation in the economy and realizing their ambitions. The factors at play include not only their implementation and enforcement, but also social, cultural, and religious norms.
In the name of social norm or religious and cultural forms, the South Asian region cannot afford to keep its billion-strong workforce at home. If not addressed, it will be disastrous for the growth and prosperity of this region.
Sachi Satapathy is the director of the Asia-based research evaluation agency AF Development Care in New Delhi, India. Email: [email protected].
