When a major swimwear factory in Bangkok found its sales plummeting in the downturn, it laid off about 1,900 workers, almost all of them women.
That didn’t surprise labor activists, who say women are the most vulnerable workers in recessions, especially in low wage industries in developing countries where gender equality lags.
“Even before the crisis, there were differences in the labor market situation between women and men,” said Gyorgy Sziraczki, a senior economist at the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Asia-Pacific headquarters. “Fewer women are working then men, and women also have a much larger share of vulnerable employment. The crisis, to a certain extent, has widened the gap.”
Garment worker Chalad Chaisaeng is a case in point. After working for 15 years at the Bangkok swimwear factory, she is struggling to support her two children, ill husband and parents with her severance pay of 110,000 baht (US$3,300).
“I did not expect the company to do this. I am a good worker,” Chaisaeng said.
Millions of female workers across the region will face Chaisaeng’s plight, according to economists and activists who say women, especially those in low-skilled contract and temporary employment, are particularly susceptible to the downturn.
The latest figures for Asia by the ILO project a 5.7 percent rise in unemployed women this year, compared with 4.9 percent for men.
Lucia Victor Jayaseelan of Committee for Asian Women, a Bangkok-based network of more than 40 women’s groups in 14 Asian countries, said women would form the majority of the up to 27 million expected to lose their jobs in the Asia-Pacific region this year.
“Because the sectors that are affected are the manufacturing sector, tourist sector and migrant workers, it will be at least 80 percent to 90 percent women,” Jayaseelan said. “We have a growing informal sector and a growing migrant population [predominantly women], completely unprotected by legislation or any form of social security.”
Exact country-specific unemployment figures are hard to come by, as many developing countries do not carry out labor force surveys. In addition, in absolute terms, men still outnumber women in global unemployment.
However in Asia, the concentration of women in export-driven industries, such as garments, textiles and electronics, which have been hit hardest by the crisis, is much higher than men.
Wage gaps between men and women, a bias toward males as perceived breadwinners and the multiple roles women play today have also made female workers more vulnerable, experts said.
Even for those who have found jobs after being retrenched, the work is usually more menial and even more poorly paid.
Former Thai textile worker Nongnuch Thansoongnern, 39, left her home in Lopburi Province 11 years ago to work at Wa Thai textile company, where her 5,700 baht monthly salary was more than twice she could ever earn as a farmer.
Now, two months after she was laid off because of declining factory orders, the former quality control officer makes ends meet selling fruits and vegetables near her old factory.
She wakes up at dawn each day to buy produce at the market and then travels by bus to sell her wares at a spot in front of a local convenience store where she stays until nine at night.
“There are too many sellers and not enough buyers, but at least I can still eat something,” Thansoongnern said. “It’s better than eating nothing.”
RSS