The women committee of Nagkaisa labor coalition is calling
on the government to roll out a public employment program particularly designed
to address the rising number of workers who are dropping out of the labor
force, majority of them women.
“Women participation in the labor force has been chronically
low and has even declined over the last few years, but this pandemic is forcing
more women out of the labor force,” stated Nagkaisa women committee head Judy
Miranda, citing the analysis made by economist JC Punongbayan.
In his article published in Rappler, Punongbayan explained
that despite the unemployment rate dropping to 8.7% or 3.8 million from the
highs of 10% in July and 17.7% in April, a significant number of employed
persons – a whopping 2.23 million workers – also dropped out of the labor force
from July to October when labor force participation rate fell to 58.7%.
Employed persons in October are less by 1.47 million in October than in July.
Inactive members of the labor force are no longer included
in the official count of unemployed Filipinos in a particular period. Majority
of those who are not in the labor force from July to October are women, with
1.313 million or 153,000 higher than men (1.160 million).
Nagkasia said the government’s recovery program,
specifically on employment, must look into this feminization of the jobs crisis
so that it can formulate appropriate measures in addressing this gender gap in
employment.
“Not only is the pandemic forcing more women out of the
labor force. Women’s unpaid work is also multiplied once economic activities in
the formal sector of the services and the care economy are domesticated and made
less visible,” said Miranda, who is also Secretary-General of Partido
Manggagawa.
She added that still, unemployed women never run out of work
as unpaid domestic labor simply replaces their lost hours of employment. A
viable public employment program, including paid trainings, must be visible and
accessible to women to avoid more dropouts in the labor force amid the
lingering pandemic.
Nagkaisa is pushing for a public employment program as a
strategy for economic recovery and sustainable development. Included in
Nagkaisa’s Unemployment Support and Wage Assistance Guarantee (USWAG) proposal
is the provision of wage subsidy for the micro and small enterprises, public
employment for the unemployed, including paid trainings, and expansion in the
public sector sector to take on social tasks such as upgrading the public
health system, developing renewable energy and carrying out mitigation and
adaptation measures to climate change (climate jobs).
NAGKAISA Labor Coalition
Women Committee
9 December 2020
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