AMMAN — Participation in the
labor market is one of the most significant challenges Jordanian women face
when trying to make a difference in their communities. Despite official efforts
to empower women and increase their role in the economy, the coronavirus
pandemic has exacerbated an already dire situation.
اضافة اعلان
Recent data shows that the
pandemic resulted
in a significant drop in the percentage of women workers in a wide range of
industries, reflected in higher unemployment rates.
According to official
UN data, women’s
unemployment rate remains high, reaching 30.8 percent in the third quarter of
2021, compared to unemployed men at 21.2 percent.
In the same period, the revised economic
participation rate for women fell to 14.5 percent from 14.9 percent in 2020,
indicating that many women who had left the labor market during the pandemic
did not return.
According to
Jordan Labor Watch, the rate of economic activity for
Jordanian women is among the lowest in the world, at around 47.9 percent, and
among the lowest in the region, at around 31 percent.
In the words of Linda Kalash, executive
director of
Tamkeen for Legal Aid and Human Rights, the coronavirus pandemic
had a significant impact on women’s employment.
“We witnessed an exodus of women from the
Jordanian labor market as a result of online education, as well as the
dismissal of a large number of male and female employees, not to mention the
closure of several institutions during the pandemic,” she said.
The existence of an informal labor market
whose size and composition are unknown makes it hard to get accurate estimates
of the number of women who work in the entire labor market.
Kalash said that “the responsible authorities
must first improve the work environment and support flexible work, in addition
to ensuring equal pay for men and women, because the wage disparity results in
women withdrawing from the labor market”.
She added that the
Ministry of Labor is in
charge of this issue, and that one of the most significant challenges the
ministry faces is lack of inspectors.
Women’s participation in the labor force is
significantly lower than that of men’s, and the pandemic has resulted in many
people losing their jobs, Rasha Badareen, leader of the Workforce Development
component at the Jordan River Foundation, told
Jordan News.
“During the
pandemic, we noticed that there was a
significant number of women who wanted to work from home because there are no
nurseries at their place of employment, and because of logistical issues,”
Badareen added.
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