Women, Work and Welfare in the Middle East and North Africa: The Role of Socio-demographics, Entrepreneurship and Public Policies
... The literature Chamlou and Karshenas (2016) states that feminization of poverty occurs in areas where women lack empowerment and are often relegated to non-productive activities like home and childcare duties (Pathak & Buche, 2013). The husband's earning determine the household income (Ngono, 2021). ...
Sectoral inequality exemplifies the baseline condition; despite the same significant sectoral growth, high sectoral inequality also leads to high income inequality. This is because sectors with low contributions and sectors with high contributions to regional income will provide very unequal income for the workforce involved in them. Each variable may have a different relationship in the long term. This study aimed to investigate the short-term and long-term effects of Sectoral Inequality, Gender Empowerment Index (GEI), and Average Years of Schooling (AYS) on Income Inequality in Indonesia. The Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), based on panel data for the period 2015–2022, serves as the data analysis method. Each variable requires a different time to influence variations in other variables. The results show that there are no significant effects, either in the short run or in the long run, between Sectoral and Income Inequality. In the long-term, GEI does not affect Income Inequality but has an effect in the short-term. Meanwhile, AYS has a significantly negative effect on Income Inequality in the long-term and short-term. The practical implication of these research findings is that efforts from the government are needed to reduce Sectoral Inequality before encouraging equal distribution of sectoral growth to avoid high income inequality.
... Most of the research on women's employment has relied on quantitative methods (e.g. Assaad, 2014;Karshenas et al., 2016). This stock of knowledge has provided ample understanding of the size of the problem but less on the how and why of this phenomenon. ...
... Most of the research on women's employment has relied on quantitative methods (e.g. Assaad, 2014;Karshenas et al., 2016). This stock of knowledge has provided ample understanding of the size of the problem but less on the how and why of this phenomenon. ...
Despite decades of increased access to education, women’s conspicuous absence from the labour market in Egypt, and the Middle East in general, has been the focus of a large body of research. These studies have often focused on the role of culture and the regional political economy trajectory in curbing the potential of women’s participation in the labour market. This study seeks to address the interplay of social policies, family and culture in defining women’s employment decisions in Egypt. Building on the stock of evidence on women’s employment in Egypt, this study provides qualitative data through in-depth interviews with both married and unmarried working women in Egypt to explicate this process. In their own voices, the study documents the torrent of challenges educated women face as they venture into the labour market. Single women highlighted job scarcity and job quality challenges pertaining to low pay, long hours, informality, and workplace suitability to gender norms as key challenges. For married working women, the conditions of the work domain are dwarfed by the other challenges of time deprivation and weak family and social support. The paper highlights women’s calculated and aptly negotiated decisions to either work or opt out of the labour market within this complex setting. The analysis emphasises the role of social policies in the domains of employment, social security, housing and education in this process; and how inhospitable working conditions and compromised support often make opting out a sensible decision. This, in turn, augments regressive values of female domesticity. The paper urges serious discussion of women’s employment as an area for policy action not just culture.
Gender inequality and women's empowerment are pivotal topics in the discourse surrounding development disparities in the Middle East. This chapter explores the multifaceted nature of these issues, highlighting their socio-economic and cultural dimensions within the region. In the Middle East, gender inequality manifests through disparities in access to education, healthcare, economic opportunities, and political representation. Women often face systemic barriers that limit their advancement and participation in public life. These challenges are exacerbated by traditional norms and legal frameworks that perpetuate unequal treatment based on gender. Conversely, efforts towards women's empowerment have gained momentum, driven by grassroots movements, international advocacy, and local governmental initiatives. These endeavors aim to dismantle discriminatory practices and promote gender equality across various sectors. Initiatives include legal reforms, educational campaigns, and economic empowerment programs that seek to enhance women's rights and socio-economic opportunities.
This study uses a spatial Durbin model in identifying possible causes of the overdispersion into regional unemployment in Tunisia. Data properties were identified using exploratory spatial data analysis which indicates significant neighbouring effects for several variables. Differences in socio-economic structure between regions explain in part these phenomena. Education is a key factor and also some constraints prevent married women from taking up jobs, thus exacerbating regional unemployment. Regions with important tourism activity do well than others. Tourism sector exhibit important spillover effects on regional unemployment while the impact of agricultural activity is confined to local labour market. The diversification of the industrial fabric at a regional level is not a sine qua non for differences reduction in regional unemployment rates. Developing road infrastructure helps to reduce unemployment disparities.
Informed by sociological standpoint, intersectional, and gender regime theories, we examine perceptions of a diverse sample of Iranian Kurdish women in the city of Sanandaj about their legal status and social positions. We find perceptions of injustice, oppression, male control, and lack of opportunity associated with both the family and broader society. Kurdish women are socially located in structures and institutions of both private and public patriarchy. At the same time, their growing educational attainment and knowledge of possibilities for change enable them not only to articulate grievances but also to aspire to, and sometimes engage in, collective action for women’s rights. By focusing on an under-studied region, this article contributes to the wider literature on Kurdish women, underscores the continued salience of intersectional and standpoint approaches, and expands gender regime theorizing beyond Western cases.
The collapse of authoritarian regimes in the wake of the Arab Spring initially raised hopes for the emergence of new democracies premised on robust conceptions of citizen rights, including those of women. While some countries, such as Libya, Syria, and Yemen, have descended into violent conflict, others have adopted new political and social structures. This chapter will focus on the relatively nonviolent cases of the Arab Spring—Tunisia, Egypt, and Morocco—and provide a comparative analysis of women’s roles in the democratic processes since the onset of the Arab Spring. The chapter concludes with insights on the characteristics of a women-friendly democracy and on the long-term prospects for women’s rights across the The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
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