51³Ô¹Ï

 

Beijing+5: 23rd special session of the General Assembly

Fact Sheet No. 6

Women and the Economy
 

Despite the fact that women's participation in the workforce has grown steadily worldwide, existing gender inequalities have intensified with respect to pay and working conditions.

Women continue to face barriers to economic empowerment and entrepreneurship. These obstacles include discrimination in education, training, hiring, access to credit, the right to own and inherit property, lower levels of pay, promotion for equal work and greater domestic responsibilities for women. Rural women and migrant workers are particularly hard hit during times of economic downturn when they are much more vulnerable to unemployment and are often forced to carry an even larger burden of unpaid work.

The Platform for Action, adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, identified economic disparities between men and women as one of the 12 critical areas of concern requiring action by member states, the international community and civil society.
During its forty-first session in 1997, the 51³Ô¹Ï Commission on the Status of Women proposed further action and initiatives to be undertaken to promote women's economic empowerment, including the mainstreaming of a gender perspective into all economic policies and programmes. Among the agreed conclusions of the session were measures to enhance the capacity of women to influence and make economic decisions as paid workers, managers, employers, elected officials, members of non-governmental organizations and unions, producers, household managers and consumers. Also included were measures to eliminate biases in the educational system to counteract the gender segregation of the labour market.


International Legal Standards

There are international standards, including conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, that establish gender equality with regard to equal access to employment, the right to equal pay and the prohibition of sexual harassment, among others. However, the persistent lack of enforcement and implementation of these standards has rendered them ineffective.

In response to this discrepancy, UN member states have implemented measures since the Beijing Conference to bring their laws and policies into compliance with international conventions.

  • In addition to ratifying ILO conventions, Japan has amended its labour laws, which now prohibit employers from discriminating against women in recruitment, hiring and promotion, while abolishing restrictions on overtime, holiday or night work by women aged 18 years and above.
  • China has introduced legislation and monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to provide labour protection for women and guarantee their rights to employment.
  • In 1998, Germany amended its labour laws, redefining the liability of employers for gender-specific discrimination. Herein, the employer must compensate the person discriminated against, regardless of the degree of responsibility in the violation.
  • In addition to ratifying ILO conventions in 1995, Chile modified its Labour Code in 1998 to prohibit employers from discriminating against women based on their reproductive role.


The Right to Own and to Inherit

A few states, in efforts to correct customary practices and traditions favouring men's ownership of land, have passed legislation recognizing equal rights for women to land ownership.

  • Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Malaysia, Nepal, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe are among the countries that have enacted laws recognizing women's right to ownership of land.
  • As of 1999, Mongolia's Civil and Family Laws recognize women's equal rights to inheritance, land use, ownership of livestock and other property.
  • Armenia has established equal ownership rights for women and men of real estate and other property, while its Family and Marriage Code guarantees equal rights for spouses to jointly owned property.


Equal Opportunities and
Protection from Harassment

Since the Beijing Conference, several countries have adopted legislation to prevent abusive behaviour against women and to secure equality between men and women in the workplace.

  • Sweden amended its Equal Opportunities Act in 1998 to increase employer obligation to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.
  • Belize and India have issued guidelines or adopted legislation to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.
  • The Canadian Human Rights Commission developed a model anti-sexual harassment policy in 1998 and made it available to employers.
  • Argentina has adopted a Plan of Equal Opportunities between Women and Men in Employment, by which the Government, private sector and labour unions have committed themselves to establishing mechanisms to promote equal opportunities.
  • Albania's new Constitution, adopted in 1998, enshrines the principle of equality between men and women.  As a result, all Albanian legislation, including the Labour Code, now reflects this principle.


Supporting Women's
Economic Empowerment

The need to enact specific legislation and develop policies to strengthen women's executive and professional abilities, in particular to allow them to manage their own businesses, has gained increasing recognition. To this end, governments have developed policies and projects that use local, national and international networks to facilitate information, technology, credit and training for women entrepreneurs, as well as programmes that aim to enhance women's education.

  • In 1999, the Republic of Korea enacted a law establishing a Korean Women Entrepreneurs' Association.  The law also encourages central and local government bodies to provide support for women's businesses, both new and established.
  • The United States has taken steps to strengthen the financial capacity of women-owned small businesses by granting micro-credits and loans via the small Business Administration Programme and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
  • Croatia is implementing a programme that grants loans with favourable credit conditions to small enterprises, in particular to women entrepreneurs.
  • Benin has reported that, as of May 1999, about 80 per cent of the government's credit programmes for the development of micro-enterprises have benefited women.
  • The Indian Government, in support of women's entrepreneurial activities, ensures that no less than 30 per cent of budgetary allocations for development sectors reach women. In addition, 30-40 per cent of government employment and asset-creation programmes are channelled to women.
  • Iran has facilitated interest-free credit for rural disadvantaged women and female-headed households in order to support their productive activities.
  • In South Africa, the Technology for Women in Business programme, launched in 1998, facilitates access to technology for women in small businesses.
  • The Russian Federation has embarked on a wide-reaching training and retraining programme intended to improve women's employment prospects.
  • In Australia, the Women in Small Business Mentoring Project has developed a mentoring network linking new starters with experienced business owners, enabling them to share knowledge and experience.
  • Algeria supports programmes for the creation of micro-enterprises and for infrastructure and credit to rural female cooperatives.


Work and Family Responsibilities

Women's reproductive role has continued to be perceived as a stigma by the labour market. In an effort to promote a change in attitude, some governments have adopted policies to accommodate the conflicting responsibilities of work and family life.

  • Austria has increased the flexibility of maternity leave and has enabled fathers to claim paternity leave. In addition, more day-care centres have been established and their operating hours have been extended.
  • In 1997, Denmark amended legislation securing equal access for men and women to employment and maternity leave.  Fathers are now entitled to claim two additional weeks of paternity leave.
  • In 1999, the Italian Parliament approved a law by which female and male workers are not obliged to accept night-time shifts if they have a child under the age of 3 years, if they are single parents of a child under 12, and if they live with a disabled person.
  • Poland's labour code and family welfare code guarantee equal rights for women and men to family care leave, whereas the law entitles women to special protection on the grounds of motherhood.


Developing Gender Analysis and Research

Studies to identify barriers to women's economic empowerment have been conducted in a number of countries.  Governments have, among other things, funded research projects, compiled sex-disaggregated data and published statistical reports on the economic status of women.
 

  • Australia has funded research projects to identify barriers to education, training and employment for girls and boys, as well as women's access to information technologies.
  • Benin has published statistical reports to raise awareness of the persistence of poverty among women.
  • Egypt, Jordan and Oman have developed database systems disaggregated by sex for use in the planning of development projects.
     

This fact sheet is based on "Review and Appraisal of the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action: Report of the Secretary-General" (E/CN.6/2000/PC/2).

Published by the 51³Ô¹Ï Department of Public Information
DPI/2035/F—May 2000