1. Measuring Gender
Dimensions of Decent Work
Asian Group

2. Outline of Presentation
1. Decent Work Agenda: An integrated
approach
2. Emerging gender issues in the world of work
3. Engendering statistics on the world of work:
Issues raised

3. 1. Decent Work Agenda: an
integrated approach
• Decent Work Agenda:
Promoting work of women and men in
conditions of freedom, equity, security and
human dignity…. Decent Work agenda puts
gender equality and development issues at the
heart of the ILO agenda.

4. Aspects of Decent Work:
• – Freedom: free from forced labour, and
freedom of association and collective
bargaining;
• – Equity: equal opportunities to productive
employment, income and productive
resources for all social groups;

5. • Security: work stability, safe work, social
safety net, and protection against sickness
and old age.
• – Human dignity: free from child labour and
decent working conditions.

6. • Decent Work seeks “social floor” in socio-
economic development:
– Link between social progress and economic
growth;
– Combining efficiency objectives with equity and
welfare goals;
– Both “quality” and “quantity” of jobs matter;
– Gender equality and equity as a crosscutting
priority.

7. Decent Work agenda: Four Strategic
Objectives
• 1. Promote and realize rights and
fundamental principles at work;
• 2. Create greater opportunities for decent
employment and income for women and
men;
• 3. Enhance social protection for all; and
• 4. Strengthen tripartism and social dialogue.

8. • Decent Work agenda seeks to achieve the “social
floor” by respecting the fundamental rights and
principles at work = espoused in Declaration on
Fundamental Rights and Principles at Work.
• Example:
• The US funded project on “Women’s Empowerment
through Decent
• Employment and Health” = an integrated
• and rights-based approach for development
• (implemented between 2001-2005).

9. • The principles of Declaration on Fundamental
• Rights and Principles at Work were adopted
• during the World Social Summit in 1995 in
• Copenhagen (UN Conference).
• • The Declaration promotes the fundamental
• principles and rights at work in the following
• areas: freedom of association, collective
• bargaining, and elimination of forced labour,
• child labour and of discrimination – but NOT to
• be used as a basis for trade regulations

10. Emerging gender issues in the
world of work
• Gender Gaps in the World of Work
• Women less educated than men – higher
illiteracy among women (59% compared to
men’s 41.5% in BGD) despite progress in
narrowing gender gaps.
• Girls and women tend to be less trained in
vocational skills (12% of total in BGD) and only
trained in traditional “female trades”.
• Gender gaps in labour force participation rates
(22.8% compared to men’s 73.5% in BGD).

11. • Women are found more in informal
• employment (93% compared to men’s
• 75% in BGD)
• • Women dominate in those occupations
• with low pay and least protected –
• increase in vulnerable types of work:
• home work, domestic work and
• migration. A large majority of women
• are in unpaid work (73% compared
• men’s 10 % in BGD)

12. • Gender gaps in wages: M/F Wage ratio
• – 1.4. in BGD.
• • Women are under-represented in
• executive positions despite overall
• increase of their share in paid
• employment.
• • As a result of all these: Poverty
• remains to be feminized.
• • The very young and old are more
• vulnerable to poverty: girl child and
• old women.

13. • Factors affecting the world of work:
• Persisting/expanding informal economy.
• Gender dimensions of the impacts of
globalization and advancement of technology
on work and welfare.
• The impact of work and lack of work on
family and personal lives

14. • Linkage between care economy and paid
work.
• Women more affected by Decent
• Work deficits: the lack of decent employment
– work largely unprotected, lack of access to
social protection, lack of representation and
voice

15. • Access to employment, quality of
employment and poverty – direct linkage to
economic well-being of people, particularly
women.
• Gender division of work, distribution of
resources and assets – men and women do
not have the same share within the
household, community and economy as a
whole.

16. Engendering statistics on the
world of work: Issues raised
• Aspects to be addressed:
• Quantitative aspects of measuring work
• Qualitative aspects of measuring work
• Gender sensitive data collection method
• Gender disaggregation of data
• Engendered analyses of data