May 2018 - Number 170 WHY AREN’T MORE LEBANESE WOMEN WORKING? IF THE GAP IN GENDER PARTICIPATION RATE CLOSED BY 25%, LEBANON’S GDP WOULD GROW BY 9% (PPP)1. By Angela Elzir Assy and Haneen Sayed 2 The results of a recent qualitative assessment in Lebanon shows different gender perceptions in “A woman is an entity, she’s a citizen, and it is her the challenges faced by women in joining and right to work” states an employed female adult in remaining in the labor force and in finding a North Lebanon. job. The qualitative assessment included: (i) 32 focus group discussions with women and men, Introduction. Ensuring equitable access to jobs segmented by region, gender, age, and labor and reducing gender gaps is essential for putting market status; and (ii) 10 in-depth interviews MENA countries on the path to inclusive growth with firms. Some of the striking results are and stability. Giving women and girls the summarized below. opportunity to succeed can transform societies and economies.3 Reducing gender gaps in employment can help economies diversify their exports; appointing more women onto banking supervision boards can challenge cozy group- think; and tackling gender inequality can reduce income inequality, which, in turn, can drive more sustainable growth.4 Improving access to jobs for women is also expected to generate positive externalities to the society, by facilitating human capital accumulation, health and nutrition gains for children through increased women- controlled incomes.5 However, the majority of women are economically idle in Lebanon. What are the reasons? Beirut: Registered Nurse vaccinates for Polio 1 2011 Constant international $ - ILO website: http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/multimedia/maps-and- charts/enhanced/WCMS_556526/lang--en/index.htm 2 The gender diagnostic “Understanding Women’s Constraints and Barriers to Jobs in Lebanon” was financed by the Jobs MDTF and undertaken by a team led by Angela Elzir Assy and included: (i) Beth Zikronah Rosen and Soraya El Khalil for the literature review; (ii) Samantha Constant and Jonna Maria Lundvall for the qualitative work; and (iii) Gharam Alkastalani Dexter for the legal review. The team is also grateful for guidance and technical feedback from Eliana Carranza and Haneen Ismail Sayed. 3 https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/the-time-has-come-for-women-to-thrive-heres-how/ 4 IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and the Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg, WEF AM 2018 “ Why 2018 must be the year for women to thrive”. 5 David Robalino and Ian Walker. 2017. “Guidance Note on the Economic Analysis of Jobs Investment Projects.” World Bank, Washington, DC. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO. May 2018 · Number 170· 1 • Although, in general, Lebanese women folds: (i) home responsibilities: child and want to work, participants (even women) elderly care, housework; and (ii) societal provided significantly more reasons for pressures: attitudes of her family, especially them not to be working. Employment was male relatives, and being married, which considered an option for women but a points to the importance of non-wage related necessity for men. The most notable divide in factors (working hours/flexibility, work opinions between gender related to the conditions). impact of a working woman on the family: (i) • Although most participants found childcare female participants were more likely to offer expensive and argued that quality came at a positive impacts in terms of easing financial price, social norms also played an important burdens, making the partnership between role. Across all focus group discussions, spouses more equal, and being independent there seemed to be a mistrust in the quality and a role models for their children; (ii) male of available childcare and a strong preference participants were more negative, questioning to keep provision within the family. Many who would undertake traditional female female participants and most male roles such as childcare and cooking, participants held the view that childcare, worrying about the negative effects a more particularly in the early years of independent and successful woman would development, was detrimental to the bond have on them and between a mother and her child. However, “Some men think that the concern of being most men expressed a dislike of childcare when a woman works, she gets stronger and neglected. Some services, citing the mother’s duty to her child she starts fighting for male participants and the need for motherly affection. gender equality” had more positive Nevertheless, there was a consensus amongst views, believing it women that, increasingly, putting your child would help them understand the value of in nursey was no longer a stigmatized issue. money. Although more awareness raising, especially • Women had a higher number of factor amongst men, needs to be done. affecting her decision to choose a given job. While women showed similarities with men In fact, traditional and social norms of gender in citing salary, working hours, and benefits roles is a strong factor in determining the as crucial factors when job seeking; other division of labor within the Lebanese family, factors such as proximity to home, stability of especially for married women.6 Survey data employment, family approval, flexibility, shows that more than 70% reported that the wife long-term employment prospects were performed domestic chores7. This work is unpaid deemed extremely important. Both men and and invisible, thus women engaging in this work women argued are recorded as “inactive”. It is still common for “Women are always that, especially for women to leave the labor force when they marry underestimated. Many married women or have children, as they are expected to be people do not trust with children, responsible for in childcare: most working women’s opinions and prefer to talk with men.” working hours women are young, with the highest percentage were amongst the under 35 years, and never married8. The State is most important factor in determining not expected to ease this burden and is whether a job would be suitable. traditionally reluctant to intervene9, existing care • The main challenges for women to enter and remain in the labor market are two- 6 The Status of Women in the Middle East and North Africa population based study in Lebanon. American Journal of Public (SWMENA) Project, 2010. Focus on Lebanon: Social Attitudes Health. 97(5), 860-866. 8 Toward Women Topic Brief. The International Foundation for World Bank, 2009. Gender-based differences among entrepreneurs Electoral Systems (IFES) and the Institute for Women’s Policy and workers in Lebanon. Washington, DC. Research (IWPR). 9 Seiko Sugita, 2010. Social Care and Women’s Labor Participation 7 Khawaja, M. & Habib, R., 2007. Husbands’ involvement in in Lebanon," Al-Raida, Issue 128, Winter 2010, p. 31. housework and women’s psychosocial health: Findings from a May 2018 · Number 170· 2 facilities are insufficient, inaccessible, and often compared to 70% amongst working age men.11 unaffordable. The reported reasons differ greatly by gender. According to a recent survey in North Lebanon, Institutions also plays a critical role. Current most women (64%) reported being inactive due laws and regulations in Lebanon contain to house duties, while most men reported being discriminatory measures towards women inactive due to studies.12 Participation rates are which can act as a disincentive for economic bell-curved, especially for women: it is low participation. A desk review of the Lebanese amongst youth (20% amongst women and 40% laws and regulations revealed several for men), it increases for individuals aged 25-34 discriminatory clauses. For example, the law (40% for women and nearly 90% for men), then does not mandate childcare support by drops for women aged 35-45 back to 20%, while employers and the government, paternity or that of their men remains high (around 90%). parental leave, flexible/part-time schedule, equal Women are twice as likely as men to be remuneration for work of equal value, unemployed (18% and 9%, respectively), prohibition of asking about family status during although this does not necessarily imply a higher interviews, protection from discrimination in risk of dismissal among women. Women are selection criteria and job advertisements, more likely to leave jobs for childbearing protection from sexual harassment at work, or (becoming inactive) and reenter the workforce at protection against discriminatory practices in a later stage but with difficulty (becoming access to loans and other financial services. As unemployed with outdated skills). They also per Annex 1 of the Labor Law, women cannot consider more factors before accepting a job work in certain tasks and sectors, such as (working hours, proximity to home, flexibility). fertilizers, energy and metal industry. Concerning maternity leave, although its period Even when women do enter the labor force, they has recently been increased from 40 to 70 experience worse labor market outcomes calendar days (10 weeks), it remains well below compared to men, which might dissuade them ILO’s Recommendation (No. 191, article 110) of at from entering in the first place. Besides being least 18 weeks. In addition, there is no guarantee more likely to be unemployed, women have for women to return to the same or to an lower returns to work in terms of wages and equivalent position which can affect women’s profit, and suffer from worse working conditions career development. Introducing changes to compared to men13, e.g. leave discrimination14, address those discriminatory laws and sexual harassment at the work place 15, and regulations, with clear enforcement and limited access/refusal to their maternity accountability mechanisms, could incentivize benefits16. Excluding differences in endowments more women to participate in the labor market. and personal characteristics, the average male employee has a wage 10.5% higher than the The above contributed to most women being average female employee due to economically idle in Lebanon – representing a discrimination17. The contribution of women to large untapped human resource. Inactivity and family work in agriculture is also expected to be unemployment are significantly high amongst both under-measured and unremunerated18. Lebanese women. Only 1 in 5 working age women participates in the labor market 10 15 The Status of Women in the Middle East and North Africa http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:1 (SWMENA) Project, 2010. Focus on Lebanon: Social Attitudes 2100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:R191 Toward Women Topic Brief. The International Foundation for 11 World Bank (2012). Lebanon: Good Jobs Needed – The Role of Electoral Systems (IFES) and the Institute for Women’s Policy Macro, Investment, Labor, Education and Social Protection Research (IWPR) 16 Policies. World Bank, 2009. Gender-based differences among 12 entrepreneurs and workers in Lebanon. Washington, DC. World Bank, 2017. Jobs for North Lebanon. Washington DC: 17 World Bank, 2009. Gender-based differences among World Bank Group. entrepreneurs and workers in Lebanon. Washington, DC. 13 World Bank, 2009. Gender-based differences among 18 Delphine Torres Tailfer, 2010. Women and Economic Power in entrepreneurs and workers in Lebanon. Washington, DC Lebanon: The Legal framework and challenges to women’s 14 ibid economic empowerment. CRTD-A, Beirut: Lebanon. May 2018 · Number 170· 3 Women also tend to be wage-employed and Results (PforR), currently under preparation, seem to be less attracted to self-employment. several interventions have been designed with a Based on a recent survey in North Lebanon, over gender angle. Some of which are provided below: 80% of women are wage employees while only • A Matching Grant Fund would be established 15% are self-employed or employers. The results where: (i) the fund manager will have outreach of a 2010 survey also point to a very high efforts targeting women-owned cooperatives; dissatisfaction rate among low-skilled women (ii) tailored training, mentoring, coaching, who are self-employed, 30% of whom would like networking support for preparing applications to change jobs, mainly for greater job security. 19 and/or implementation, if applications are approved, would be provided. Self-employed women face gender-based • A communications campaign would be barriers to starting and expanding their designed in a gender-sensitive way to attract business: their access to finance is limited, their and motivate women to participate in the businesses are concentrated in low Program’s initiatives and would target male productivity, stereotypically “feminine” relatives. activities. Women tend to use their own savings • An Entrepreneurship Grant Fund would: (i) and/or loans from family and friends to start-up encourage intermediaries to develop proposals an enterprise and their retained earnings to that would incentivize women to submit ideas, develop the business. In fact, only 29% of female- through an application process/dedicated owned firm access bank loans to finance capital window for which only women can apply to as or operations (versus 54% of male)20, and only 3% international evidence suggests that women of bank loans go to female entrepreneurs21. Loans tend to shy away from general competition. are highly collateralized and women lack The scoring and revising processing will, property ownership22 as most of the 18 personal however, be the same for the general window status laws put women at a disadvantage vis-à- and the “women-only” one; (ii) hire vis their male counterparts with regards to access intermediaries with a good track record in to property through inheritance23. Subsequently, supporting women entrepreneurs. women tend to over-rely on microfinance loans, • A profiling system would inform program which are expensive and limited in size and can design for women with dependents amongst make women vulnerability to a cycle of debt.24 As other various profiles of beneficiaries. a result of gendered expectations, limited access • The pay by performance incentive system to to finance, as well as underdeveloped business private ALMPs providers could allocate a development services encouraging higher level of resources to boost employment microenterprises in traditionally “feminine” low opportunities for hard-to-serve women. productivity, low valued-added services, with very little growth potential, and very little prospect of formalization25, such as home-based food processing, clothing, and handicrafts. The result of this analysis pointed to the importance of ensuring that interventions are gender informed and address the challenges that especially women face. It’s not enough to just target women or include a quota. In a $400 million Lebanon National Jobs Program for 19 World Bank (2012). Lebanon: Good Jobs Needed – The Role of 22 UNESCO, 2016. Key gender statistics in Lebanon and Key UN Macro, Investment, Labor, Education and Social Protection messages. 23 Policies. Nabil Abdo & Carole Kerbage, 2012. Women's entrepreneurship 20 World Bank, 2015. Enterprise surveys: Lebanon Country Profile development initiatives in Lebanon: micro achievements and 2013. Washington, DC. macro-gaps, Gender & Development, 20:1, 67-80 21 24 IFC, 2013. Increasing Access to Finance for Women Lebanese Microfinance Association (LMFA) 25 Entrepreneurs in Lebanon. ibid May 2018 · Number 170· 4