By Sunidhi Gupta

Abstract

There is a wide extent of discrimination based on gender in the society with compartmentalization of the work that can be done by a man and a woman and when the diverse streaks of identities emerge in the society there is a lot more chaos. All these changes and thoughts have a direct impact on the income and employment of a nation. This article aims to establish and understand the impact of such inequalities on the economy of the Middle-Eastern countries.

The discrimination of women based on gender has been a concern for a substantial period. There are multiple rules and regulations which have been implemented to bring women visibility in the labour market and to specifically empower and encourage women in various fields of employment. This article takes a view at what role the unequal treatment of gender plays in the income and job opportunities of men and women in the Middle-east Nations. This includes the member states of the Gulf Corporation Council, i.e. the United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sultanate of Oman, State of Qatar, State of Kuwait and the countries in the Levant region i.e. Israel, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine. Although women in the Arab nations have made considerable growth and proved themselves in various fields, there remain stereotypes based on gender against women which makes several jobs inaccessible for them due to the mindset of the society. This leads to a lack of employment opportunities and the ideas and creativity of those women go down the drain. 

But the new generation of women in this 21st century has been able to grab opportunities and work in almost all fields due to changes in the mindset of society. This change in the participation of women in various sectors of employment has led to steadfast growth in the Middle East region. If there is an increase in the role of women in professional and technical jobs, that would not only help women achieve parity with men in the region but also with women around the world in terms of job opportunities. There has been a search by McKinsey and Company which states that the job opportunities for women in the Middle East would double in the Fourth Industrial Revolution but it depends on four factors which are education, financial inclusion, digital inclusion, and legal protection. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is referred to the developing environment of technology and the introduction of Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence etc. change the way of living. The study also emphasizes how these indicators affect the job opportunity of women. While for education and digital inclusion, they state that the enrolment and literacy rate of men and women is at par on both primary and tertiary levels, the fact that women mostly pursue fields such as arts and education leads them to not be integrated completely in the STEM-related fields. In the case of digital inclusion, they state how technology acts as a catalyst to increase the participation of women in professional and technological jobs by giving them more opportunities and greater flexibility. One of the best examples is job creation and access to jobs through online platforms where women who do not work due to cultural, infrastructural, or familial challenges would get flexible access to traditional jobs and new remote work opportunities. Also, digitization would include automation and the study states that automation in labour-intensive roles which are generally male dominated would open opportunities for women in the region and less than 15% of them will be displaced. Thus, digitization would give women the dichotomy of working at home with paid employment. Finally, the other two indicators, financial inclusion, and legal protection, are where most of the inequalities between men and women persist. How these inequalities persist would be discussed further on but first, let us understand the reasons that have led to gender inequality in the labour markets of Middle Eastern countries. 

REASONS FOR GENDER INEQUALITY 

According to data, 5.55 per cent of the world population accounts for the Arab population out of which half of the total population is that of women. In recent times, there has been a substantial increase in the population of people belonging to working age due to which there has been a rise in unemployment. This rise in unemployment has led to pressure of sorts on the labour market which has discouraged women’s participation in the workforce of the countries. As mentioned above, the literacy rate in Middle-Eastern countries has been at par between men and women, therefore it can be established that the region has a well-educated population which is also characterized as young. Stats state that half of this young population below the age of 30 is unemployed with exceptionally high rates of unemployed women, with Saudi Arabia having rates as high as 42.5 per cent in 2019. There are changes which are being brought to close the gender gap, there are terms of life expectancy, high mortality and fertility rates which lead to many countries lagging behind, especially women who have the highest risk of unemployment because they are not just threatened by an unemployment rate of the region but also face barriers to entering the labour market owing to the obstacles. The data registers 38.5 per cent of the unemployment rate of women, almost double the rate of young men. 

Apart from the population which plays a rather huge factor in unemployment, there are other reasons also for inequality in the labour market. Even though both sexes perform the same task, males nonetheless dominate the occupational structure of the workforce, and women continue to earn much less money. Women participate in the labour force at a lesser rate than men, in part because many of them stay at home and are thus unpaid. An analysis of the gender inequalities in various occupations revealed a discernible rise in the number of jobs available to women in the private sector, which was inversely related to the shrinking of the public sector. However, women continue to earn less than males, exacerbating economic disparities, regardless of the work sector, occupation, or rank. Therefore, the issue is not just unequal opportunities but unequal pay for the same. There are studies which show that Arab women suffer from a wage gap even though there is an increase in the number of jobs for women. This is because the jobs women are getting are low-skilled or low-income while they are not being given the opportunity of high-income employment. 

SOCIAL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC & CULTURAL CHALLENGES

There are a number of social, political legal, economic and cultural challenges which lead to inequality and loss of opportunity. Firstly, is unequal access to education information and healthcare for women. Though for professional and technical jobs the rate of education might be at par there are other sects of the society where the resources are limited and these are results of traditions and stereotypes which discriminate against women. In addition, regulations in Arab nations discriminate against women in several ways and severely restrict their access to the legal system. In addition, women face several economic obstacles on a daily basis due to a lack of knowledge about their rights, the impact of poverty on women, high unemployment rates, a high percentage of part-time and informal workers participating in low-paying jobs, occupational segregation, entrepreneurial and cultural barriers, and, ultimately, labour market inequality. Inequality between the sexes in the exercise of power and discrimination against women in positions of decision-making are additional challenges that women encounter while trying to participate in politics. Finally, women must contend with sexist attitudes and cultural obstacles. If the data and stats for the same are concerned, the region still has certain difficulties today, such as having the lowest female labour force participation rate (LFPR) in the world at just 24.6%, far below the global average of 47.8%. Contrarily, men’s labour force participation is equivalent to that of other international regions. Average female labour force participation rates in GCC nations are greater than those in the Levant (LFPR of 32% against 21%). Women participate in the workforce in Kuwait, Oman, and the UAE at rates comparable to the best-in-region nations globally, which can be attributed to the greater proportion of foreign workers in lower- and middle-paying positions. These positive examples do not apply to the remainder of the region, where female LFPR continues to be a problem. Another important challenge is the legal protection of women’s workforce because a proper legal framework is important for women to manage assets, set up businesses and work at a professional level. Legal frameworks may also influence workplace HR practises, which in turn affects how and whether women decide to enter or leave the workforce. Women’s labour force participation grew by at least five percentage points in the five years that followed when gender parity was represented in the law, according to research. However, if the legal framework for a variety of social and work-related concerns is examined, it is seen that there are significant gaps in the legal protection of women in the GCC and Levantine nations. Legal protection for socially relevant issues is still lacking, but it’s crucial to remember that Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are three of the ten nations with the most improved laws in 2019.

POSITIVE MEASURES TO INCREASE WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT & END INEQUALITY

Retraining and education are essential to achieving increased female employment rates in professional and technical positions. Women perform better when their abilities and competencies are increased, and it also helps them get ready to adapt to new professions in light of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Similarly, if the present difficulty is to find excellent employment for college-educated women who are unemployed or underemployed, then making investments in financial access and literacy will also give much-needed encouragement. In order to increase parity holistically, laws, rules, and institutions must be reviewed and changed with the intention of levelling the playing field.

There are policies as well as suggestions to tackle the situation of gender inequality and employment of women, one of which is setting up a Ministry of Women’s Affairs. This is because initiatives, women’s conferences and written recommendations might be necessary but not sufficient and an institutional body with a short and long-term vision to strategize on the prevailing culture is important to deal with problems stemming from gender inequality. Other policies to be implemented include measures that provide women-owned businesses and women-employed people preferential treatment, comparable to those used in the US to boost women’s participation in the economy. These supportive laws in the US have raised women’s economic engagement and hastened the expansion of women-owned enterprises. Finally, the government should take the lead in raising public awareness of women’s economic empowerment and engagement. Additionally, the government must make sure that it is providing for the needs of poor women and should establish a “Gender Support Fund” to aid women, particularly those who are providing for their families. By putting these policies into practice, we can ensure that all girls and women have the opportunity and freedom to pursue the careers they are passionate about, free from sexism and prejudice.

Author’s Bio

Sunidhi Gupta, a student at Jindal Global Law School in her third year of BA. LLB (Hons.)

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