Microfinance Focus May 2, 2011: A report, by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) titled ‘Women and Labor Markets in Asia: Rebalancing for Gender Equality’ emphasizes on the fact that Asian countries have an opportunity to tackle gender inequality in their labor markets and support sustainable crisis recovery.

The report explains that although Asia is helping to lead the global economy, recovery of the labor market from the recent economic and financial crisis has not kept pace. In some developing countries, particularly in East Asia, job growth is back, but the quality of jobs being created is a major concern.  In particular, 45 % of the productive potential of Asian women remains untapped, compared to just 19 % for Asian men.

In addition, even before the crisis, Asia was estimated to be losing $42-$47 billion a year because of limits on women’s access to employment opportunities and another $16-$30 billion a year as a result of gender gaps in education, according to estimates by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Although the region’s economic growth of 6.2 % in 2000-2007 gexceeded the global average of 4.2 %, average growth in women’s employment was just 1.7 % - below the world average of 2 %.

These deficits are likely to have increased during the crisis, the report says, because women disproportionately shouldered the impact due to pre-existing gender inequalities. They include discrimination in the region’s labor markets, inequality rooted in social-cultural norms and national policy and institutional frameworks that shape the employment opportunities of Asia’s 734 million female workers.

The report also points out that poor quality jobs are a greater labor market challenge for women than unemployment and a large proportion of women in Asia toil in vulnerable, low paid, informal work. In addition, female youth unemployment is high and women are still largely perceived as a buffer workforce or secondary earners next to men.

According to the report, policies to improve the situation include support for women entrepreneurs, assisting women working in agriculture to boost productivity, reducing Asia’s over-reliance on the informal sector, promoting equal access to quality education and training, gender-responsive social protection, ensuring equality in representation and decision-making and following a rights-based approach.