• BLOG SURF
KATHMANDU, APRIL 12
The current status of women in the Philippines is both a cause for optimism and a reason to accelerate efforts for promoting better access to jobs for all women.
On several fronts, the Philippines is a best performer when it comes to gender equality in the East Asia and Pacific region and even globally. In the latest Global Gender Gap report, the Philippines occupies the 17th place, with 78.4% of its overall gender gap closed to date.
This performance is the second best in the EAP region, after New Zealand. A key driver behind the progress has been the Philippine Magna Carta for Women, a landmark law signed nearly 13 years ago seeking to eliminate discrimination against women.
With the impressive performance in closing key gender gaps, it is therefore striking that women's labor force participation remains persistently low. At just 49%, the Philippines' female labor force participation in 2019 was one of the lowest in the EAP region (regional average rate is 59%).
In contrast, 76% of Filipino men were in the labor force, creating a massive gender gap.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 12, 2022, of The Himalayan Times
