32% RESORTS
GENDERED IMPACTS ON EMPLOYMENT; WOMEN WERE DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTED
(VI)
The JobCenter data shows that 79 percent (5,914) who reported being impacted were men, while 21 percent (1,602) were women. Amongst those who reported in the tourism sector, 87 percent were men and 13 percent, women. It should be noted that a higher proportion of employed women are in the public sector such as in education, health services and financial services. The under-representation of women compared to men in the JobCenter may be due to several reasons. First, a majority of women in the working age group are out of the labour force, due to unpaid care work responsibilities. Second, the majority of employed women work in the public sector and, as noted earlier, public sector employees did not face dismissals, rather salary cuts across state institutions and Government, that have been enforced months into the crisis. Third, according to the Census 2014, female representation in the informal sector is high, which is again not reflected amongst those who reported on the JobCenter, as reporting on the JobCenter required formal documentation. JobCenter data show that women were earning less income compared to men. Analysis shows that fewer years of work experience and women’s employment in lower paying occupations are amongst the reasons for low reported income for women on JobCenter. The 2016 HIES shows that a pay gap exists between men and women amongst the employed population.
The JobCenter data for all sectors show that redundancy and complete loss of income was higher for women than men. About 55 percent of women compared to 47 percent of men reported redundancy (Figure 19 – all sectors). The gender difference is even higher when the tourism sector data on JobCenter are analysed. According to the JobCenter data on the tourism sector, 65 percent of women faced redundancy, while the same was true for 54 percent men (Figure 19 – tourism sector). This reveals the higher vulnerability of young women to employment risks. Furthermore, the risks of losing vital work experience and professional development time, that would enable income independence, leads to financial insecurity of women in the future.
NO INCOME SUSPENDED NO PAY LEAVE TERMINATED HALF SALARIED/DEDUCTED AVERAGE MONTHLY SC (MVR) AVERAGE MONTHLY INCOME (MVR)
FEMALE MALE 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 41% 30% 19% 6% 5% 29% 34% 27% 4%6% NO INCOME TERMINATED NO PAY LEAVE SUSPENDED HALF SALARIED/DEDUCTED FEMALE MALE TOTAL MALE FEMALE 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0 3250 6500 9750 13000 33% 24% 5% 18% 20% 27% 27% 5% 24% 18% 11,005 12,689 12,480 4,470 5,107 5,049
Figure 19 Redundancy and income loss impact by gender and income comparisons
JobCenter data - all sectors
JobCenter data - tourism sector
The redundancy of women also risks driving many young women out of the labour force altogether (see discussions in the previous section on the labour market trends and low labour force participation rates among women). The JobCenter data show that the ratio of redundancy-impacted men between 15-30 years and men made redundant over the age of 30 years is 48:52. This is significantly lower than the redundancy ratio of women in these respective age groups, which is 59:41, indicating a fall in women’s employment with age (Figure 20). According to HIES data, women’s labour force participation rate starts to fall from 30 years onwards in Malé and, in the case of atolls, falls between 30-34 and increases at a slow rate until 60 years, before starting to fall again.
The gender comparisons on the JobCenter data also show that the ratio of women who are impacted with duration of work below 2 years and above 2 years is 61:39, whereas the ratio across the same age groups for men is 54:46. This indicates that the younger age group of women are in jobs who have been impacted, exposing them to more vulnerabilities (Figure 21).
Gender comparisons across occupation groups impacted showed more than 8 out of every 10 people impacted in the education sector are women. Likewise, the ratio of women impacted in industries in the ‘other’ category (health sector, household activities and professional services) are higher. The ratio of men impacted from the rest of the industries is higher - more than 93 percent of those impacted from agriculture and fisheries, 88 percent from construction, and 87 percent from tourism and food services, are men (Figure 22). Gender comparisons across the occupational groups show that the ratio of men compared to women impacted is higher across all occupation groups. The gender ratio difference is lowest in the clerical and support work group which has a man to woman ratio of 53:47 (Figure 23). These gender dimensions reflect the difference in gender composition across industries and type of work.
Figure 20 Reported cases by gender and age groups
Figure 22 Reported cases by gender and occupation groups
Figure 23 Reported cases by gender and type of work Figure 21 Reported cases by gender and contract duration
FEMALE MALE 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 15% 11% 10% 17% 19% 27% 17% 11% 12% 21% 23% 16% 2-5 YEARS >5 YEARS 6-12 MONTHS 3-6 MONTHS 1-2 YEARS <3 MONTHS 0% OTHERS MANUFACTURING CONSTRUCTION AGRICULTURE AND FISHING ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION ADMINISTRATIVE AND SUPPORT SERVICES EDUCATION WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRADE TRANSPORT AND STORAGE ACCOMODATION AND FOOD SERVICES 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% FEMALE MALE 87% 13% 77% 23% 65% 35% 18% 82% 74% 26% 81% 19% 95% 5% 88% 12% 63% 37% 61% 39% FEMALE MALE 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 12% 47% 25% 16% 8% 40% 30% 22% 15-20 21-30 31-40 41+ 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% FEMALE MALE SERVICES AND SALES WORKERS CLERICAL SUPPORT WORK ELEMENTARY OCCUPATIONS TECHNICIANS AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSIONALS MANAGER OTHER
IMPACT ON EMPLOYEES DURING THE INITIAL STAGE OF THE CRISIS (FEBRUARY – MARCH 2020)