Presentation to: Abu Dhabi – NYU Workshop

By:

Nadereh Chamlou, Senior Advisor, MNA, The World BankSilvia Muzi, The World Bank

Hanane Ahmed, The World Bank

Will Peoplepower Empower Women?Evidence from Amman, Cairo, and Sana’a

April 11, 2011

Ratio of actual to potential FLFP

Predicted or potential FLFP rates are:• based on the characteristics of each country’s female population (fertility rate,

education, population age profile) • calculated using panel regression analysis for 71 countries and three points in time

1980, 2000, 2005.

Ratio of actual to potential FLFP

2

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

1.60

1.80

2.00

1980

2000

2005

Countries below the line underutilize investments in female capacity

relative to actual FLFP

Countries above the line over-utilize female capacity relative to

actual FLFP

Approach, Survey, and Data

A. Approach based on :

B. Survey and Data

• Pilot conducted in Tehran, showing high incidence of home-based work, and entrepreneurship.• Lessons learnt from pilot used in design of survey in 3 MENA capitals. • Data collected concurrently in 3 capitals representative of regional diversity & endowment.

• Sampling: two-stages cluster stratified sampling method • Data collected: household and individual characteristics, employment, home-based activities, social norms and attitudes• Use of capital cities as control for various country specific factors, as capitals enjoy similar positions within their respective

countries, access to resources and sophistication.

Country Size Population Income ResourcesJordan small small middle resource-poorEgypt large large middle resource-poorYemen middle middle low some resources

3

M F M F M F M F M FAmman (w/ Dept of Stat) 3,500 8,797 8,585 1,013 1,018 4,057 4,176 258 108 1,472 3,505Cairo (w/ Cairo Univ) 3,000 6,681 6,570 1,582 1,443 3,636 3,847 83 133 2,390 2,909Sana'a (w/ Natl Wmn's Cncl) 1,500 5,516 5,012 1,875 1,507 2,303 2,566 65 46 742 1,309

Total 8,000 20,994 20,167 4,470 3,968 9,996 10,589 406 287 4,604 7,723

Frequency

Cities

Working age population (15-64)

Home-Based observations

Responses to Social Norms

Number of Households in the

Survey

Total Number of Students Surveyed

Total Number of Household Members

Determinants of Labor Force Participation (Marginal Effects)Dependent Variable: Labor Force Participation Dummy

4

Years Levels Years Levels Years Levels Years Levels Years Levels Years Levels(1) (2) (3) (4) (1) (2) (3) (4) (1) (2) (3) (4)

EDUY (years of education) 0.00692*** … 0.0316*** … 0.00443*** … 0.0162*** … 0.00729*** … 0.0123*** …

[0.000997] [0.00214] [0.00108] [0.00126] [0.00179] [0.00136]LOW EDUCATION … 0.0923*** … -0.00502 … 0.0168 … 0.000834 … 0.0607** … 0.0245

[0.016] [0.0341] [0.0181] [0.0265] [0.0262] [0.0246]MEDIUM EDUCATION … 0.0722*** … 0.0679* … 0.0330** … 0.181*** … 0.0553** … 0.0358

[0.00901] [0.0404] [0.0163] [0.0281] [0.0271] [0.0276]HIGH EDUCATION … 0.0976*** … 0.370*** … 0.0675*** … 0.259*** … 0.112*** … 0.405***

[0.0113] [0.0427] [0.0151] [0.0225] [0.0234] [0.0473]AGE 0.0159*** 0.0167*** 0.0409*** 0.0401*** 0.0336*** 0.0330*** 0.0335*** 0.0323*** 0.0377*** 0.0377*** 0.0228*** 0.0151***

[0.00251] [0.00261] [0.00454] [0.00464] [0.00367] [0.00369] [0.0044] [0.00445] [0.0055] [0.00556] [0.00468] [0.0048]AGESQ -0.000274*** -0.000282*** -0.000603*** -0.000619*** -0.000494*** -0.000488*** -0.000432*** -0.000421*** -0.000518*** -0.000520*** -0.000276*** -0.000191***

[0.0000306] [0.0000314] [0.0000628] [0.0000636] [0.000044] [0.0000442] [0.0000544] [0.0000549] [0.0000699] [-0.0000702] [0.0000665] [0.0000657]JORD* (Jordanian or not) 0.0468** 0.0432** 0.0635*** 0.0827*** … … … … … … … …

[0.0216] [0.0213] [0.0205] [0.0184]MARRIED* (married or not) 0.0748*** 0.0680*** -0.250*** -0.236*** 0.184*** 0.186*** -0.158*** -0.155*** 0.124*** 0.123*** -0.147*** -0.132***

[0.0202] [0.0202] [0.0251] [0.0251] [0.0311] [0.0311] [0.0222] [0.0221] [0.0335] [0.0335] [0.0255] [0.0249]

CHILD6* (living in the presence of children less than 6 years old or not) 0.00933 0.0104 -0.0491*** -0.0480*** 0.0573*** 0.0576*** -0.0520*** -0.0504*** 0.0581** 0.0545** 0.0131 0.0171

[0.0135] [0.0136] [0.0168] [0.0175] [0.0201] [0.02] [0.0193] [0.0193] [0.0231] [0.0233] [0.019] [0.0193]ADULT65* (living in the presence of an adult 65 years old or not) -0.0235 -0.0214 0.0448** 0.0385* -0.0169 -0.0172 0.025 0.0233 0.0117 0.00855 -0.0227 -0.0247

[0.0178] [0.0172] [0.0227] [0.0234] [0.0229] [0.023] [0.0236] [0.0234] [0.0277] [0.0282] [0.0205] [0.0196]

SHAREWOMEN* (living in a household with share of adult women as a fraction of total adult members greater than 50% or not) -0.0056 -0.00481 0.0127 0.0195 0.00349 0.00389 0.0389** 0.0423** -0.0175 -0.0192 0.0320** 0.0297*

[0.0112] [0.0112] [0.0152] [0.0156] [0.016] [0.016] [0.0176] [0.0176] [0.0219] [0.0219] [0.0158] [0.0159]NORMS* (living in a household in which at least one of the members is not in favor of women working outside) 0.004 0.00344 -0.123*** -0.126*** 0.00905 0.01 -0.122*** -0.119*** 0.0156 0.0151 -0.0149 -0.0101

[0.00949] [0.0096] [0.0131] [0.0131] [0.0136] [0.0135] [0.0151] [0.0151] [0.0193] [0.0193] [0.0166] [0.0168]

Observations 4057 4057 4176 4176 3626 3626 3847 3847 2303 2303 2566 2566R2 21.8% 22.2% 22.2% 31.1% 17.7% 0.1773 0.1396 0.146 15.4% 15.4% 16.5% 20.4%

Standard errors in brackets. NO_EDU is the reference category for education.

*** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1

Females (15-64)AMMAN CAIRO SANA'A

Males (15-64) Females (15-64) Males (15-64) Females (15-64) Males (15-64)

low edu med edu hi edu norms married child6 adult65 shre/w

-40%

-20%

0%

20%

40%

60%

Amman Cairo Sana'a

Low and med educa-tion not a factor in FLFP Norms and marriage

far more negative than children

Main factors affecting female labor force participation (FLFP)

5

• Unlike pilot in Tehran, incidence of home-based is smaller than expected. This debunks the myth that women are massively engaged in home-based. This indicates that they may face similar barriers in working even from home

• However, still 1 in 6 women in Amman, 1 in 5 in Cairo is likely to be home-based, self-employed or an entrepreneur. With dearth of opportunities to work in public or private sectors, this is an option that needs to expand.

7. Does Home-Based Work Provide an Option to Women’s Economic Empowerment?

71

8 3 5 2

51

18

4

17

3

710

2

14

3

17

6264

51

35

44 43

20 23 22

4432 35

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

male female male female male female

Amman Cairo Sana'a%

of t

he t

otal

e em

ploy

ed

Occupational choices of employed

employer self-employedworking home-based employee in the private sectoremployee in the public sector

64

16

63

15

55

8

6

6

6

4

2

2

5

2

1

2

8

3

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

male female male female male female

Amman Cairo Sana'a

% o

f the

tota

l 15

-64

Distribution of males and females by employment status

working outside unemployed home-based

6

6. Employment Status in Urban MENA by Income Groups

• In Amman and Cairo, the poorer women work less • By contrast, in Sana’a, the richer women work less

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Amman Cairo Sana'a

% of

tota

l sam

ple

Employment status by sex and income groups

Female Employed

Female Unemployed

Female OLF

Male Employed

Male Unemployed

Male OLF

7

6. Employment Status in Urban MENA by Education

• Except for Sana’a, male – female education levels are roughly similar , in “low to high” education.• Women more represented with “no education”• FLFP much higher with high education – across the board • Unusually low participation rates of women with completed secondary education across all three countries.• Low participation rate of women with low or no education, even though presumably among the poor.

No Education

Elementary

Secondary

Tertiary

No Education

Elementary

Secondary

Tertiary

No Education

Elementary

Secondary

Tertiary

Amman Cairo Sana'a

05

101520253035404550

Employment status by sex and education

% o

f tot

al in

the

surv

ey

Female Unemployed

Male Unemployed

Female Employed

Male Employed

Male Out of Labor Force

Female Out of Labor Force

8

6. Attitudes Towards Women Working Outside Home in MENA

• Attitudes toward women working outside affects women’s ability and decision to work outside. • Labor force participation in households positively exposed to women’s work outside is a multiple of households opposed.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Amman Cairo Sana'a

FLFP in household accepting/not accepting the idea of women working outside

Not accepting Acceptingdifferences are statistically significant

9

05

1015

aver

age

year

s of

sch

oolin

g

age

Men Women

Amman

05

1015

aver

age

year

s of

sch

oolin

g

age

Men Women

Cairo0

510

15av

erag

e ye

ars

of s

choo

ling

age

Men Women

Sana'a

6. Average Years of Schooling by Sex and Age

• Little male-female education disparity in younger cohorts

•Younger cohorts of men and women in the survey have roughly same education levels

10

• Women across income and age groups are less opposed to women working outside

• Non-acceptance of women’s outside work is high across income groups in all cities – with high-income groups slightly less

• Most surprising, younger men are more conservative toward women’s work outside than older generations

• Cairo is more conservative because of the relative magnitude of “under no circumstances”

22 19 18 15 14 1224

17 16 12 16 13

2518

117 5 3

15 2413

65 5

05

101520253035404550

low

med

ium

high low

med

ium

high

15-2

9

30-4

4

45+

15-2

9

30-4

4

45+

M F M F

Amman: Non acceptance of the idea of women working outside, by income, age, and gender

Yes but with conditions Under no circumstances

income groups age groups

13 13 12 11 7 8 15 147 10 7 6

26 22 18

4 6 4

2217 25

43 9

05

101520253035404550

low

med

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high low

med

ium

high

15-2

9

30-4

4

45+

15-2

9

30-4

4

45+

M F M F

Sana'a: Non acceptance of the idea of women working outside, by income, age, and gender

Yes but with conditions Under no circumstances

income groups age groups

11

• Higher education is important in changing women’s attitude toward working outside.

• But, up to secondary level, education for men changes little in attitudes toward women’s work outside.

• Cairo remains the most conservative among the three cities – while in Amman and Sana’a, men with secondary education are less conservative.

6. Attitudes Towards Women Working Outside, by Gender and Education

20 2315 17 16 14 16

9

28 19

178 9

7 3

1

05

101520253035404550

No

Ed

uca

tio

n

Low

Ed

uca

tio

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Me

diu

m E

du

cati

on

Hig

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du

cati

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No

Ed

uca

tio

n

Low

Ed

uca

tio

n

Me

diu

m E

du

cati

on

Hig

h E

du

cati

on

M F

Amman: Non acceptance of the idea of women working outside, by education and gender

Yes but with conditions Under no circumstances

8 10 11 8 6 9 9 4

36 31 28

16 19 16 13

8

05

101520253035404550

No

Ed

uca

tio

n

Low

Ed

uca

tio

n

Me

diu

m E

du

cati

on

Hig

h E

du

cati

on

No

Ed

uca

tio

n

Low

Ed

uca

tio

n

Me

diu

m E

du

cati

on

Hig

h E

du

cati

on

M F

Cairo: Non acceptance of the idea of women working outside, by education and gender

Yes but with conditions Under no circumstances

1016 13

6 10 9 81

2924

17

18 93 2

105

101520253035404550

No

Ed

uca

tio

n

Low

Ed

uca

tio

n

Me

diu

m E

du

cati

on

Hig

h E

du

cati

on

No

Ed

uca

tio

n

Low

Ed

uca

tio

n

Me

diu

m E

du

cati

on

Hig

h E

du

cati

on

M F

Sana'a: Non acceptance of the idea of women working outside, by education and gender

Yes but with conditions Under no circumstances 12