Women’s Economic

Empowerment
in the Context of
the COVID-19 Pandemic
 The Pandemic and the Jordanian Economy
The Covid-19 Pandemic

an unprecedented global health crisis in our lifetime
threatening with one of the worst global economic crises

Jordanian Context: Pre-pandemic an already challenged economy

• A very low employment rate (34.3%)
• Globally one of the lowest female employment rates (10%)
• High and increasing unemployment rate (19%), especially among women
and youth
• Low growth rate (2% in 2019)
• High public debt
• Limited fiscal space
 Gendered COVID-19 Impact on the Economy
The gendered patterns of the crisis in terms of their magnitude and content,
shaped by the different positioning of women and men
• in the labor market

• in household production
UN Women study on the gender disaggregated economic impact of the Covid-
19 pandemic in the Jordanian context, addressed under two main headings:
• Non-market sphere of household production;
• Household surveys by the Jordanian Department of Statistics (JDoS) and the Economic
Research Forum in Egypt (ERF)
• Impact on employment and income, for different groups of women and men
• The Jordanian Input-Output Table 2010 updated to 2016 by the World Bank
Non-market sphere of household production
 Unpaid Care Work and Women’s Time Squeeze
Under the Pandemic
Time Allocation to Unpaid versus Paid Work by gender, Marital and Employment
Status (weekly hours), Jordanian population age 15-59

(0.52) (1.54)

(0.34) (1.73)
 Unpaid Care Work and Women’s Time Squeeze
Under the Pandemic
Gender Gaps in Paid, Unpaid and Total Work in Jordan versus other countries

In Jordan, women spend 17.1 times more time than men on unpaid work (vs. a global average of 3.2), while men
spend 6.5 more time on paid work than women (vs. a global average of 1.8).
 Unpaid Care Work and
Women’s Time Squeeze Under the Pandemic
Marginal Effects (expected change in unpaid work hours) by proxies of Pandemic
effects (married Jordanian women age 15-59)
14.00
12.10
12.00

10.00

8.00
6.22
6.00

4.00 3.69 3.75

2.00
0.59
0.00
-0.31
-2.00
SchoolMarried
closuresWomen
and childcare (proxy: nursery enrolment)
Married Men
Suspension of market services (proxy: hiring domestic wrkr & HH income)
Disabled-ill care (proxy: having an ill/disabled HH member)
 Unpaid Care Work and
Women’s Time Squeeze Under the Pandemic
Estimated Change in Work Hours of Married Women with at least one school age child (15-
59 years old) under the Covid-19 Pandemic (weekly hours)
Employed Non-employed Employed in
(Full-time Homemaker) Health & Education
Pre-pandemic Higher Lower Higher Lower Health Education
education education education education
Unpaid work 26.5 38.9 30.7 26.0 23.0 29.0
Paid work 34.7 34.0 -- -- 42.0 32.0
Total Work 61.2 72.9 30.7 26.0 65.0 61.0
Change in unpaid
work due to…
School closures* 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.8
Suspension of market 12.1 1.8 12.1 1.8 6.5 6.5
provided d. services
A household member (6.3) (6.3) (6.3) (6.3) (6.3) (6.3)
becoming ill
Under Pandemic
Increase in unpaid 17.9 7.6 17.9 7.6 12.3 12.3
work (24.2) (13.9) (24.2) (13.9) (18.6) (18.6)
Total unpaid work 44.4 46.5 48.6 33.6 35.3 41.3
(50.7) (52.8) (54.9) (39.9) (41.6) (47.6)
Total work 79.1 80.5 48.6 33.6 77.3 73.3
(85.4) (86.8) (54.9) (39.9) (83.6) (79.6)
 Unpaid Care Work and
Women’s Time Squeeze Under the Pandemic
Estimated Change in Work Hours of Married Men with at least one school age child (15-59
years old) under the Covid-19 Pandemic (weekly hours)
Employed Non-employed(Full- Employed in Health &
time Homemaker) Education
Pre-pandemic Higher Lower Higher Lower Health Education
education education education education
Unpaid work 1.7 1.8 0.8 1.0 1.5 1.7
Paid work 40.7 43.7 -- -- 37.7 31.8
Total Work 42.4 45.5 0.8 1.0 39.3 33.5
Change in unpaid
work due to…
School closures* 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6
Suspension of market 2.8 0.8 2.8 0.8 1.7 1.7
provided d. services
A household member (-0.9) (-0.9) (-0.9) (-0.9) (-0.9) (-0.9)
becoming ill
Under Pandemic
Increase in unpaid 3.4 1.4 3.4 1.4 2.3 2.3
work
Total unpaid work
5.1 3.2 4.2 2.4 3.8 4.0
Total work
45.8 46.9 4.2 2.4 41.6 35.8
Impact on employment by gender and sector
 Gender disaggregated COVID-19 impact
on employment and income
The pandemic

a negative shock for the overall economy and employment,
BUT some sectors are more likely to be hit harder than others

• Critical Sectors: Health and Education – essential workers

• intensified workloads, deteriorating work conditions and increased
risks to employee health and safety.
• High-contraction Sectors: Transport, tourism, accommodation & food
services, arts, whole sale and retail trade, entertainment & recreation.
• Certain sub-sectors of education and health services may also be
subject to contractions
• Low-contraction Sectors: Manufacturing sectors, particularly textiles and
garments, and construction

• Indirectly affected sectors

 10
20
30
40
50
60

0
6.7
Education

40.9

3.2
Human health and social work act.

15.2

Critical
9.9
Total

56.1

8.1
Transportation and storage

1.1
Accomodation and food services

0.7
Arts,entert&recreation

0.4
Domestic services

0.4
Other service activities

High contraction
1.9
Total
14.7

4.5
Men

Manufacturing
6.2

Construction
0.6
Women

Wholesale&retail trade; r of vhc and mcycles

16.7

6.7
Employment and Income

Medium contraction sectors total

32.8

13.5

Medium Contraction
Information and communication
1.9

Financial, insurance, real estate

3.1

Prof. l, scientific and technical act

3.1
32

Admin, public admin, support services

16.8

Agri, forestry and fishing

0.7
Gender Disaggregated COVID-19 Impact on

Indirect contraction

Mining and quarrying

0
Distribution of Employment by Gender, Sector and Pandemic Effects (%)

Electricity, gas, water,

0.4

Total
42.6

26
 Gender Disaggregated COVID-19 Impact
on Employment and Income
Vulnerable Employment by Sector and Gender
Men Women
100.0
100.0

79.1
80.0

66.9 67.1
59.5 59.3
60.0 54.5 53.8 56.0 58.5
52.0 49.9 47.6 45.9
44.5
39.8
37.1 52.7
40.0
32.4 31.8
23.3
17.9 19.0
20.0 15.4
9.6 9.9
4.2 4.9 3.7
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.6 0.0 0.0
0.0
Manufacturing
Education

Professional, scien

Mining and quarryin

Construction

Information and com

Transportation and

Electricity,gas,ste

Water supply;sewage
Administrative and
Wholesale and retai

Financial and insur

Public administrati
Real estate activit

A:Agriculture, forest
Human health and so

Accomodation and fo

other service activ

Critical High Contraction Medium Contrac- Indirect Contraction

tion

Wide-spread presence of informality in the private sector

hence the importance of the recent measures by the Jordanian Government
at protecting vulnerable forms of employment
 Impact of Sectoral Contractions on Total
Employment by Gender: Input-Output Analysis

A decrease in the activity of one sector affects not only output/employment in

the sector but also output/ employment in other sectors through backward
and forward linkages.

Input-Output analysis  to estimate overall employment impact by gender

Estimations based on 2 scenarios with respect to government interventions:

• No government intervention; 30-80% contraction in various sectors
• Government undertaking some measures to support the directly impacted
sectors; 10-50% contraction in various sectors
 The Change in Women’s and Men’s Employment
due to Pandemic Impact
No Government Intervention

High Contraction Medium Contraction

100,000 100,000 6.9%
90,000 90,000 7.7%
80,000 80,000
70,000 70,000 4.8%
5.3%
60,000 60,000
3.5%
50,000 4.5% 50,000
40,000 3.3% 3.7%
2.4 40,000
2.5% 2.2%
30,000 2.2% 30,000
20,000
20,000
3.5%
10,000 1.4% 0.7% 2.7% 3%
10,000 1.1%
0
Male Female Total 0
Expected Decline in Employment Male Female Total
Expected Decline in Employment
Accommodation and food services Transportation and storage
Total Manufacturing
Other service activities
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of m. vehic.& m.cycles
Construction

Expected Decline in Employment

Male Female Total

Simultaneous (Total) 286,564 30,963 317,527

(25.4%) (12.4%) (23.5%)
 The Change in Women’s and Men’s Employment
due to Pandemic Impact
With Government Intervention

High Contraction Medium Contraction

50,000 50,000 3.5%
45,000 45,000 3.8%
40,000 40,000
35,000 35,000 2.4%
2.2% 2.7%
30,000 2.5%
30,000
25,000 1.6% 25,000 1.6%
1.8% 1.9%
20,000 1.2% 20,000
15,000 1.1% 15,000
10,000
1.7% 10,000
5,000 0.9% 0.5%
5,000 1.4% 1.5% 0.5%
0
Male Female Total 0
Expected Decline in Employment Male Female Total
Expected Decline in Employment
Accommodation and food services Transportation and storage
Total Manufacturing
Other service activities
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of m. vehic.& m.cycles
Construction

Expected Decline in Employment

Male Female Total
154.564 16.480 171.044
Simultaneous (Total)
)13.7%( )6.6%( )12.6%(
 13%
Employment and Wage Protection during COVID-19

Households by Employment Structure and Gender

800,000 64%
751,671 73%
700,000

656,800
600,000

500,000

400,000

300,000
21%
245,143
200,000 90%
13% 11%
148,984 10%
100,000 3% 3% 117,058
102,244 102,376

38,768 28,488
0 10,786
with both women

Both husband and

with only women

Neither husband
with only men

with head non-

employed – male

wife employed –

employed
Only husband
employed

nor wife em-

with head
employed
with no one

Only wife
employed

breadwinner
and men em-

employed

dual earner
employed

ployed
ployed

HHS Female-headed HHs Married couple HHs

 Gendered labor market patterns and policy trends
in Jordan

• Very low and stagnating labour force participation rate over the long-run;
• Huge gender gaps in LFP
• High sensitivity to marital and parental status
• Lack of access to affordable and quality childcare services + low wages for
women  weakening women’s labor market attachment
• Low representation in the leadership positions, especially in the private
sector
It is essential to acknowledge that there is a need for a more comprehensive
policy framework on women’s employment whereby macroeconomic,
particularly fiscal policies complement labor market measures;
And labor market measures focus on work-life balance with gender-equal
incentives.
 Policy interventions – Fiscal Policy
Public Investments in Social Care
In view of the need for unprecedented fiscal stimulus spending,
prioritize public investments and expenditures on
a high-quality social care services infrastructure:
• Recognizing the double potential of such fiscal spending choices for alleviating
constraints on women’s labor supply simultaneously with boosting labor
demand and generating substantially higher number of new jobs;
• Setting decent jobs creation as a priority objective of macroeconomic policy
and recognizing the linkages between fiscal spending allocations and their
differential employment generation potential;
 Policy interventions – Fiscal Policy
Gender Budgeting
• Use gender budgeting at the national and local levels as a tool to evaluate
and reallocate public spending in order to promote gender equality.

Tax incentives
• Use tax incentives to enhance households’ access to social care services,
such as additional exemptions in personal income tax for care expenditures
and granting of tax incentives to the social care services sec
 Policy interventions – Labor Market Measures
Design labor market interventions to promote women’s employment with a
focus on women’s economic empowerment and gender equality,
NOT simply ‘increasing women’s employment rate’.
Labor market measures for gender egalitarian work-life balance
• Care leaves + flexible work arrangements for both women and men;
• Regulated decent workplace and full-time job hours;
• Formal employment
• Care leave insurance schemes for self-employed.
Paid care work
• Protect and support paid care workers taking account of the gender
dynamics in these critical sectors (including domestic workers);
Gender-sensitive monitoring mechanism
• Build a gender-sensitive monitoring mechanism for the implementation of
employment protection measures in view of women’s specific needs and
constraints; and support to women owned businesses.
Eliminate gender discrimination in hiring, wages and promotion through close
regulation and monitoring; active use of quotas
 Policy interventions

Social protection: Undertake gender responsive social protection measures

whereby income support and social protection measures take into account
household dynamics and women’s vulnerabilities, prioritize female-headed
households and deliver transfers directly to adult women members, including
active labor market policies;
Gender-inclusive crisis management: Ensure a gender inclusive and integrated
crisis management and response through effective representation of women
and women’s organizations in response and recovery decision-making
mechanisms.
 Policy Take-Away

In the context of designing the fiscal and labor market policy

responses to the pandemic induced economic recession, it is vital
to recognize that if gender-aware, they can counteract the
economic crisis with enhanced efficiency, while simultaneously
remedying the gender imbalances.
Q and A