Getting more women to work

THE Madani Economy framework’s aim to raise the female labour force participation rate to 60% within the next 10 years is in line with this year’s International Women’s Day theme, “Invest in women: Accelerate Progress”.

The women labour force participation rate (LFPR) in Malaysia in 2022 was 55.8%, which is low when compared to 80.9% for males.

Addressing care challenges that have been keeping women at home, and creating conducive working arrangements have been identified as key to achieving the Madani target.

Accordingly, several gender-responsive initiatives have been introduced, including encouraging women to return to work and providing childcare-related subsidies and tax reliefs.

Between 2018 and 2022, women’s LFPR hovered at around 55% while men recorded a 1.5 percentage point increase.

This disparity should be viewed seriously considering that women generally attain higher levels of education compared to men, yet they underperform in the labour market. Data shows 44.1% of women in the labour force were educated up to STPM and above compared to 35.8% for men.

In absolute terms, the number of women outside the labour force exceeds men by 2.3 times – at 4.95 million and 2.16 million, respectively – in 2022.

A significant improvement occurred between 2011 and 2018, with an additional 1.38 million women joining the workforce. However, the rise was partly explained by the increase in own-account workers (more precarious in nature), which grew from 11.2% of employed women in 2011 to 19.5% in 2018, translating to an additional 627,500 women in the workforce.

When dissected across different age groups, women’s LFPR was seen to peak at the ages of 25 to 29 (77.5%). This coincides with women getting married at the average age of 27. Their presence in the workforce gradually declines for all subsequent age groups, coinciding with their childbearing and parenting years.

Their caregiving and housework responsibilities are the primary reasons for women to stay outside the labour force. Data shows that 3.1 million or 62.9% of women outside the labour force cited family responsibilities as their reason for not seeking employment, in stark contrast to men – only 2.3% or 50,500 – who cite similar reasons.

Globally, women perform an overwhelming 76.4% of unpaid care work, spending an average of 4.5 hours per day, compared to men at 1.4 hours.

In Malaysia, Khazanah Research Institute’s (KRI) pilot “Time Use Study” (conducted in 2018) found that women spent 63.6% more time on unpaid care work compared to men despite both dedicating comparable time on paid work.

This underscores the “double burden” or the “second shift” that woman undertake, managing caregiving and housework after completing their first shift in the workplace.

Hence, it is equally important to reconfigure the distribution of caregiving responsibilities both within and outside the home. Within homes, there must be greater participation of men in caregiving roles.

Redistribution outside the home entails expanding the provision of care services. This requires a holistic assessment of the prevailing care arrangements, expanding affordable and quality care services, and professionalising care work.

Sociocultural norms may also play a role in hindering the advancement of women in the workforce, so countermeasures must be initiated to address these issues.

It is also important to ensure that the advancement of women in the workforce does not come at the expense of their well-being and security. Pushing women to work without giving them the support they need may adversely affect their well-being, simultaneously worsening the “double burden” they have been shouldering.

HAWATI ABDUL HAMID and PUTERI MARJAN MEGAT MUZAFAR

Kuala Lumpur