2021 a crucial year for women’s participation in labour market — activists

AMMAN — Women activists on Saturday said the year 2021 will be “crucial” for women’s participation in the labour market given the COVID-19 crisis, which resulted in economic, health and social challenges for the entire society.

The activists urged the government to adopt concrete strategies to ensure women would remain as active players in the labour market.

“This year is crucial because many working mothers are suffering from distance education and this might cause or have already caused some to withdraw from the labour market to look after their family,” Jordanian National Commission for Women Secretary General Salma Nims said.

If this situation continues this year, more women will withdraw from the labour market and “once they withdraw, it will be very difficult for them to re-enter”, Nims told The Jordan Times.

Nims said the COVID-19 crisis exposed the unpaid care that working mothers endured and “this situation highlighted the importance of changing attitudes towards the division of labour at home”.

“This new situation revealed the need to explore new roles for men to become more involved in housework responsibilities for the sake of their family and to support their employed wives,” Nims added.

Meanwhile, Nims said that Jordan has adopted a women’s economic plan for the years 2019-2024, which focuses on removing all obstacles that prevent women from fully participating in a decent work environment.

“We need to amend laws related to the Labour Law to protect women from sexual harassment and violence at work,” Nims noted.

She also said the same should be applied in the private sector.

“The private sector should amend their bylaws to protect employees from sexual harassment and acts of violence, especially women to ensure they remain in the labour market,” Nims added.

The Department of Statistics said that unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2020 reached 21.2 per cent among men compared with 33.6 per cent among women.

Economist Reem Badran added that decision makers need to be more serious about implementing policies that have been approved earlier regarding women’s participation in the labour market.

“Jordan has been facing major challenges regarding women’s participation in the labour market and the COVID-19 pandemic created new economic challenges for everyone, including working mothers,” Badran told The Jordan Times.

“If there is no major action adopted by the government, it could have devastating consequences for women in the first place and the economy at large,” Badran said.

Badran added that “decision makers should have a serious and detailed discussion among the relevant stakeholders, as soon as possible, to discuss short- and medium-term solutions to contain this challenge”.

“I believe that we should sit and discuss it and come up with a concrete recommendation and quick fixes for the current situation before it is too late,” Badran stressed.

SADAQA advocacy organisation core team member Randa Naffa said that advocating for women’s labour rights should be achieved through legal frameworks and by strengthening institutional and ministerial mechanisms.

Naffa told The Jordan Times that there is a need to focus on improving access to child care and public transport services for women’s entry and retention in the labour market.

There is an urgent need to expand social protection, especially for women in the informal labour sector, Naffa added.

In October, a total of 22 civil and women’s organisations urged the government to adopt concrete and comprehensive measures to safeguard women’s social and economic rights in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. 

The organisations said that the economic burdens that occurred due to the current COVID-19 crisis and previous financial constraints have added more burdens on working women and could eventually result in “many withdrawing from the labour market to cater to other pressing demands such as staying at home with their children”.

The organisations urged the government to establish a special fund to support working women who lost their jobs and are supporting their families.

Another recommendation was that of expanding the social security protection to include and pay for women who are not enrolled in the Social Security Corporation or to reduce the amount paid by working women.

They also called for supporting working mothers who have children at schools or daycare centres by providing them with flexible hours and making sure that their financial rights are legally protected at their workplace.