“The Economic Participation of Jordanian Women: Promising Prospects Despite Challenges”
“This year, the world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8th, under the slogan: “Innovation and technology for gender equality”. Despite almost three years passing since the COVID-19 pandemic, which deepened the challenges facing working women in Jordan, especially those working in the informal sector, they still face the same challenges, whether it’s low economic participation, the gender pay gap, or weak social protections.”
“On this occasion, the Jordanian Labor Watch, which is affiliated with the Phoenix Center for Economic and Informatics Studies, issues a position paper to assess the economic status of women and the challenges they face in terms of policies and practices that limit their effective economic participation in the labor market.”
Here is a brief overview of the most prominent changes that have occurred in policies related to women’s economic participation in recent years:-
1-Despite local efforts to improve the situation of women, including the development of the first national strategy for women, monitoring the implementation of the Fourth International Conference on Women’s Action Plan and Recommendations during the period 2002/1998, as well as the national agenda for the years 2015/2006 and the Jordanian National Women’s Strategy for 2020/2025, statistics from the Department of Statistics indicate a continuing stagnation of the female labor force participation rate in Jordan (for the population aged 15 and above) over the past ten years. It reached 14% during the last quarter of 2022 compared to 53.6% for males.”
2-The unemployment rate for females during the last quarter of the previous year (2022) reached 31.7%, which is an increase of 1.0 percentage point compared to the same period in 2021, while the male unemployment rate was 20.6%.
3-The scarcity of job opportunities and limited options for women, within the context of implementing policies that do not take into account gender equality in relation to women’s employment, in addition to their weak representation in labor unions and limited access to social protections, has led to the emergence of what is called “feminization of poverty.” According to statistics from the Jordanian Department of Statistics for the year 2021, the percentage of women in Jordan who head their households (breadwinners) reached 18.5%, an unprecedented increase. This is due to the doubling of the burdens of caring for children and the elderly, which fall disproportionately on their shoulders during the COVID-19 pandemic.
4-Many women resort to working in the informal sector, as the percentage of women working in the informal sector reached 41% according to the latest figures issued by the International Labor Organization in 2018. This is due to the presence of many forms of deprivation, obstacles, and restrictions that lead to gender inequality in the world of work. Social and legislative barriers stand as an obstacle to women’s active economic participation, including social customs and what is known as the “double burden,” lack of job opportunities, lack of support for the care of working women’s children, and some discriminatory laws and policies that lack gender-sensitive policies.
5-Although Jordan was one of the first countries to ratify International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 100 on pay equality and Convention No. 111 on discrimination in employment, the gender wage gap in Jordan remains high, despite similar job requirements, nature, and job titles. According to a report by the World Bank in 2020, the wage gap between men and women in the private sector with similar educational qualifications and experience was 17%. Another report by the ILO in 2021 showed that wage gaps between genders remain one of the most significant structural problems in the Jordanian labor market. The wage gap in the private sector for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher was 41.7%, compared to 28.9% in the public sector. This has social and economic consequences for women, such as withdrawal or avoidance of many women from entering the labor market, resorting to working in the informal sector, and lower future retirement benefits. It is expected that these percentages have increased further currently, especially after the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic.
6-The gender gap in economic participation still intersects with the gap in choosing professions, which is defined as “job stereotyping”. Most women still tend to choose educational and health-related professions, unlike men. Therefore, we find that the sectors where women are concentrated the most are health and education. This is due to the weak career guidance in Jordan at the level of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Labor, and the vocational training centers, which often leads to the selection of saturated professions in the labor market, increasing the unemployment rate among women.
7-The lack of progress towards increasing women’s economic participation in Jordan is primarily due to the challenging (unfriendly) work conditions experienced by most workers in Jordan, both men and women, especially low wage levels. However, women face more violations of their basic rights than men, as thousands of them are forced to work in the informal sector.
8-The weakness of public transportation, especially in the provinces, consumes a large portion of workers’ salaries, both men and women. In addition, it consumes long periods of their time while going to and from work, which has put more pressure on many women to refrain from participating in the labor market. Women’s experience in transportation differs from men’s, especially for female agricultural workers in the Jordan Valley, where personal safety and protection are weak, and access to public transportation is difficult.
9-The percentage of female inspectors in the Kingdom of Jordan is only 20% of the total number of labor inspectors, according to a policy paper issued by the Phoenix Center for Economic Studies in 2021. There are no inspection programs specific to women’s work that take into account ending forms of violence and discrimination against them in the labor market. According to a study titled “Women’s Safety in the Workplace” issued by the Phoenix Center in 2021, the most common legal violations of female workers’ rights are in not being included in health insurance at a rate of 50.5%, followed by not being included in social security at a rate of 36.3%, and then not being included in savings funds and housing loans at a rate of 26.3%.
10-Some individuals, both male and female, still deny the phenomenon of harassment in the workplace and consider talking about it and focusing on it to be an exaggeration. However, continuing to deny important issues that affect women is unacceptable to researchers and advocates of women’s issues. Talking about this phenomenon may encourage women to report cases of harassment in the workplace because harassment in its verbal and sexual forms constitutes a significant obstacle to women’s access to job opportunities.
11-Jordan has not yet ratified Convention No. 190 on the elimination of violence and harassment in the workplace, despite the Ministry of Labor’s announcement last November that it was moving forward with ratification. There are still shortcomings in the presence of policies within business establishments for reporting cases of harassment. However, the House of Representatives addressed part of the problem when it recently passed an amended version of the Labor Law, approving amendments proposed by the Parliamentary Labor Committee to Article 29. The paragraph (b) of the article was rephrased to include a fine of no less than two thousand dinars and no more than five thousand dinars, and the fine is doubled if the employer or his representative assaults the employees under his employment by hitting them or engaging in any form of sexual assault or harassment. However, the other part of the problem remains, which is that this amendment is limited only to the employer or his representative, while it is possible for sexual harassment to occur from colleagues or visitors, as confirmed by a study titled “Women’s Safety in the Workplace” issued by the Phoenix Center in 2021. The study found that violence in its various forms, including “sexual harassment,” is experienced by women by 37% of visitors and 13% of colleagues in the workplace.
12-The House of Representatives also addressed the restrictions in Article (69) of the Labor Law, which prohibit women from working in certain economic activities and during evening periods. This was done by approving the proposed amendments by the Parliamentary Labor Committee to this article, which were reworded to be as follows: “Any discrimination based on gender that affects equal opportunities for workers is prohibited. The Minister shall issue the necessary instructions to protect pregnant and breastfeeding women, persons with disabilities, and those working night shifts to create a safe work environment.” This was what the Phoenix Center and civil society organizations were calling for, so that these restrictions are lifted and additional protections are provided for both women and men working in difficult professions and hours.
13-So far, there has been no response to demands to amend Article (70) of the Labor Law to increase maternity leave in the private sector to 90 days instead of 70 days, in line with the public sector. This pushes women to work in the public sector instead of the private sector, due to these unfair policies related to women’s employment.
14-Workers in the agriculture sector are still suffering from the lack of inclusion in the social security umbrella, despite the issuance of the Agricultural Workers’ System after years of waiting, which stipulates their inclusion under the provisions of labor and social security laws. However, as soon as the system was approved in May 2021, it faced obstacles that prevented its proper implementation, as agricultural employers exerted pressure on the government to amend or cancel it, especially regarding the inclusion of workers in social security. As a result, Circular No. (41) was issued two months after the system was approved, allowing landowners to only insure their workers for work-related injuries, with the rest of the insurance coverage starting on January 1, 2023. However, the government postponed the implementation of the system until the beginning of 2024, and because women are more likely to work in the unorganized agricultural sector, they are more vulnerable to this violation of their rights.
15-Although the government proposed in the amended labor law currently before parliament to include agricultural workers only in work injury insurance until a decision is issued by the cabinet to include them in other insurance partially or fully, based on the council’s directive, the parliamentary labor committee came out with positive results when discussing the draft law, and proposed to include them in maternity insurance in addition to work injury insurance.
16-Women with disabilities face multiple challenges in the job market, as employers use their disability as an excuse not to hire them despite their skills. In addition, women with disabilities face difficult working conditions, such as low wages, job insecurity, doubts about their abilities, and a lack of suitable infrastructure for their work. There is also a lack of encouragement for women with disabilities to engage in entrepreneurial projects and productive kitchens that provide them with income and make them economically empowered. This requires adopting economic policies that view women’s economic participation through a developmental, inclusive, and sustainable lens.
17-Many financial institutions offer loans to women under the title of promoting their economic participation and establishing productive projects that generate income for them. However, many small finance institutions have failed to do so and have started offering these loans for personal consumption purposes instead of productive purposes. Instead of lifting women out of poverty, they were drowned in debt and became debtors. This has caused many of them to enter prison, and many financial institutions have lost confidence in women’s ability to repay loans, leading them to demand guarantees and impose numerous restrictions on women to obtain these loans. Additionally, some women are forced to borrow from various banks for purposes that are distant from their interests and the interests of their families, leading to some women’s wages being seized by force and depriving some of them of the right to dispose of their resources freely.
Recommendations
Based on what has been reviewed, the current situation requires exceptional practices that take into account and ensure a safer work environment for women. Therefore, this paper presents a set of recommendations that would enhance women’s economic participation and protect them
1-Revisiting the economic policies implemented during the past decades and easing the tax burdens to restart the growth cycle, and thus generating decent and sufficient job opportunities.
2-Reviewing economic policies towards enhancing local consumption demand by increasing wage levels, which contributes to more effective economic growth.
3-Reviewing various strategies and programs aimed at enhancing women’s role in the economic life and labor market, whether they are issued by relevant government institutions or civil society organizations, not only with the aim of legalizing and protecting women’s rights, but also to ensure the implementation of these rights.
4-Improving working conditions in Jordan in general and for women in particular, to make them more attractive, at the level of policies and practices, and empowering all workers in Jordan to enjoy their basic rights and principles at work and standards of decent work in all its dimensions.
5-Organize and support women’s work from home by creating an umbrella that manages their projects in the Kingdom, orienting and supporting them and enhancing their skills to develop their home-based projects in order to stimulate their economic participation.
6-“Reconsider amendments made in recent years to the labor and social security laws to improve working conditions and strengthen social protections and extend them to all workers in Jordan, where more than half of the workforce is still not protected by any form of social protection.”
7-Strengthen the monitoring role of labor inspection and adopt more effective policies in inspection mechanisms based on gender equity.
8-Provide adequate protection for female workers in Article 29 of the Labor Code to prevent various forms of violence and harassment in the world of work, not only by the employer or his representative as mentioned in the article, but also by co-workers and reviewers.
9-Amend article 70 of the Labor Code, increasing maternity leave in the private sector to 90 days instead of 70 days, as in the public sector.
10-Continue the procedures for the ratification of ILO Convention No. 190 on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work, without delay .
11-Activate the system for agricultural workers as a matter of urgency and the accompanying instructions, and implement it without delay.
12-Strengthening the public transport system and means of transportation, especially in the governorates and villages, so that it meets the needs of women to go to their workplaces easily and safely, and the financing of the cost of the public transport system should be reviewed so that it is commensurate with the levels of wages of female workers, which are mostly less than the minimum wage set by the government of (260) dinars.
13-The need to prepare a general code of Conduct containing clear definitions of occupational violence against women, its forms and penalties, especially cyber violence and sexual harassment.
14-Increasing attention to addressing women’s issues related to work in the media, addressing their issues more deeply and focusing on all angles and putting forward solutions.
15-Establishing partnerships between civil society organizations, women’s rights activists and relevant government institutions to facilitate access to and monitoring of workplaces for hard-to-reach workers, especially in the informal sector, to detect and monitor violations and abuses committed against women .