by Paula Määttä

I. The types of flexibility introduced

C. Women in the labour market

During the last two decades, the participation of women in the labour force has increased substantially in most regions in the world, except Sub-Saharan Africa, where there was a slight decline, and eastern Asia, where the increase was one percentage point. The largest increases were in the following regions: western Europe, northern America, northern Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and southern Asia. In 1990, womens representation in the labour force averaged 40 per cent or more in all of the developed regions, the Caribbean, and eastern, central and south-eastern Asia, while it did not exceed, respectively 20 and 25 per cent, in north Africa and western Asia (The Worlds Women 1995, 109).

Increased womens participation in the labour force has not been accompanied by an improvement of their position in the labour market. Women earn less than men in average, even in countries which have equal pay provisions. In part, this is because women hld lower positions and work in lower-paying female-dominated fields. Another reason is that in some countries, a high percentage of women work part-time. In the European Union, for example, women are much more likely to work part-time than men. The third reason for womens lower wages is that female-dominated occupations are more undervalued than male-dominated occupations. (The Worlds Women, 1995.)

The position of women in the labour market is different according to the type of country. In the developed countries they work, in general, in the formal sector but do not benefit from the same conditions as men, while in the developing countries, most of them work in the informal sector which is outside the protection of the law. For example, in the Philippines approximately half of all women who work outside the home can be categorized as informal-sector workers. The rate is higher in Ghana, where 92 per cent of women workers work in non-wage employment (self employment). (The Worlds Women 1995, pp. 115-116; Tiefenthaler 1994, p. 720; World Development Report 1995, p. 73.)

The gender wage gap is significant in every sector. Wages in the non-agricultural sector vary from over 50 per cent in India to over 80 per cent in Australia. In manufacturing, women in India earn less than half of that earned by men. The gender-based wage gap also exists in agriculture.

Table 1: Relative gross earnings of women in percentage of male gross earnings in non-agricultural activities, manufac- turing and agriculture

Countries Non-agricultural ¹ Manufacturing Agriculture

Australia ² 84.8 81.1 89.0

Canada ³ 63.0 -- --

Finland ⁴ 77.0 78.2 93.0

France ⁵ 80.8 79.1 --

Germany ⁶ 74.2 73.6 --

Ghana ⁷ -- 92.2 87.0

India ⁸ 52.7 43.8/41.4 69.1/73.1

New Zealand ⁹ 80.6 77.5 --

Philippines ¹⁰ 60.8 -- --

United Kingdom ¹¹ 71.2 68.9 74.0

United States ¹² 75.0 86.8 94.0

Zambia ¹³ 78.0 73.0 --

¹ Non-agricultural sector: mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity, gas and water, construction, wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels, transport, storage and communication, financing, social and personal services.

² ILO Statistics on Occupational Wages and Hours of Work and on Ford Prices, 1995. Wages for 1993. Human Development Report 1995, non-agricultural wage 1994.

³ Human Development Report 1995. Non-agricultural wage (-94).

⁴ ILO Yearbook of Labour Statistics 1996. Wages (-93) in manufacturing include mining, quarrying and electricity. Wages (-94) in agriculture cover agriculture and livestock production. Human Development Report 1995, non-agricultural wage 1994.

⁵ ILO Yearbook of Labour Statistics 1996. Wages information for 1993.

⁶ ILO Yearbook of Labour Statistics, 1995. Wages (-94) in non-agricultural activities and in manufacturing, the series relate to the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany (before 3.10.1990). Wages include family allowances paid directly by the employers.

⁷ ILO Statistics on Occupational Wages and Hours of Work and on Food Prices, 1996. Wages from 1993. Wages in agricultural sector include agricultural production and forestry.

⁸ Acharya 1995. The statistical information is from 1987/88. There are two figures in a cell: first stands for urban and second for rural employees. Non-agriculture: daily wage gap for casual workers.

⁹ ILO Yearbook of Labour Statistics 1995. Wages for 1994. Wages in non-agricultural activities include forestry and logging. Wages in non-agricultural activities and in manufacturing cover establishments with the equivalent of more than two full-time paid employees. Human Development Report 1995, non-agricultural wage 1994.

¹⁰ Human Development Report, 1996. Non-agricultural wage in 1994.

¹¹ ILO Yearbook of Labour Statistics 1995. Wages for 1993. Wages in non-agricultural activities include agriculture, forestry and fishing. Wages in manufacturing iclude quarrying. These data concern full-time workers on adult rates of pay. Agriculture sector covers agriculture and livestock production. The information excludes Northern Ireland.

¹² ILO Statistics on Occupational Wages and Hours of Work and on Ford Prices, 1995. Wages for 1993. Human Development Report 1995, non-agricultural wage 1994.

¹³ Development Report, 1995. Non-agricultural wage in 1994.