Abstract
Selected Issues
Macroeconomic Gains from Gender Equity in Jordan1
A. Background
1. Women make up half of Jordan’s population; however, their contribution to national income is far below their potential. The potential gains from greater inclusion of women in the economy are large: closing the gender gap in Jordan could boost GDP by about 45 percent (see figure below).2
GDP Losses due to Economic Gender Gaps in Selected Countries
(In percent of GDP) 1/
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: Estimates by Cuberes and Teignier (2014).1/ Losses are estimated for a particular year for each country and can thus be interpreted as a one-off increase in GDP if gender gaps were to be removed.GDP Losses due to Economic Gender Gaps in Selected Countries
(In percent of GDP) 1/
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: Estimates by Cuberes and Teignier (2014).1/ Losses are estimated for a particular year for each country and can thus be interpreted as a one-off increase in GDP if gender gaps were to be removed.GDP Losses due to Economic Gender Gaps in Selected Countries
(In percent of GDP) 1/
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: Estimates by Cuberes and Teignier (2014).1/ Losses are estimated for a particular year for each country and can thus be interpreted as a one-off increase in GDP if gender gaps were to be removed.2. Jordan has made significant progress over the last decade in promoting gender equality (see figure). Female labor force participation (FLFP) increased by 72 percent since 1990. That said, there remains ample scope for further progress. Jordan’s FLFP in 2014 remains low at 15.8 percent (compared with 21.9 percent in the Middle East, and 71.8 percent in low-income countries).3
Labor Force Participation (LFP) Rates
(In percent)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: World Bank World Development IndicatorsLabor Force Participation (LFP) Rates
(In percent)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: World Bank World Development IndicatorsLabor Force Participation (LFP) Rates
(In percent)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: World Bank World Development Indicators3. Historically, FLFP has been lower than male participation. Despite an increase in the participation rates, women account for most unpaid work (84 percent of female employment is in unpaid family work, on par to the Middle East average). They also face significant wage differentials—61 percent of their male colleagues (WEF, 2015).
Global Gender Gap
(Jordan rankings out of 142 countries)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report (2014).Global Gender Gap
(Jordan rankings out of 142 countries)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report (2014).Global Gender Gap
(Jordan rankings out of 142 countries)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report (2014).4. Jordan ranks 134 out of the 145 countries in global gender gap index.4 The Index looks into the gap between men and women in four categories: economic participation and opportunity (labor force participation, wages, senior managerial and technical positions); educational attainment (literacy and educational enrollment), health and survival (sex ratio at birth and healthy life expectancy) and political empowerment (parliament seats, ministers and length of heads of states). Gender gap in Jordan is particularly stark in economic opportunities and participation, education, and health.5 Jordan narrowed the overall gender gap this year compared to last year (ranked 140), owing to increased wage equality.
Women in Parliaments
(In percent of total seats)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Sources: World Bank World Development Indicators; and IMF staff calculations.Women in Parliaments
(In percent of total seats)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Sources: World Bank World Development Indicators; and IMF staff calculations.Women in Parliaments
(In percent of total seats)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Sources: World Bank World Development Indicators; and IMF staff calculations.5. The gender gap is also large in terms of potential representation. Female representation in Jordan’s Parliament (thanks to quota) has increased from zero to 12 from 1990 to 2013, in line with the increasing trend in the World—however, underperforming World Average and the Middle Eastern Countries (see figure) over that period. 6
Secondary Enrollment Ratio, 1970 to 2013
(Female to Male, in Percent)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Sources: World Bank World Development IndexSecondary Enrollment Ratio, 1970 to 2013
(Female to Male, in Percent)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Sources: World Bank World Development IndexSecondary Enrollment Ratio, 1970 to 2013
(Female to Male, in Percent)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Sources: World Bank World Development Index6. Jordan has been ahead of the curve in narrowing gender gaps in education (see figure). The ratio of girls to boys enrolled in primary and secondary education is about 100 percent, outperforming the world and the regional comparators. This is attributed to the initiatives of establishing schools in rural areas in the early 1970s.
B. International Evidence for FLFP Determinants
7. Legal and resource restrictions negatively affect FLFP and growth rates across countries. Based on the World Bank and OECD,7 restrictions on women’s rights to inheritance and property, as well as legal impediments to undertaking economic activities, such as opening a bank account or freely pursuing a profession, are strongly associated with larger gender gaps in labor force participation.
Restricted Resources and GDP
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: OECD, Social Institutions and Gender Index (2014). http://www.genderindex.org/.Restricted Resources and GDP
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: OECD, Social Institutions and Gender Index (2014). http://www.genderindex.org/.Restricted Resources and GDP
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: OECD, Social Institutions and Gender Index (2014). http://www.genderindex.org/.
Male and Female Labor Force Participation under Unequal and Equal Property Rights for Sons and Daughters
(In percent of working-age population)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: Gonzales et al. (2015).Male and Female Labor Force Participation under Unequal and Equal Property Rights for Sons and Daughters
(In percent of working-age population)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: Gonzales et al. (2015).Male and Female Labor Force Participation under Unequal and Equal Property Rights for Sons and Daughters
(In percent of working-age population)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: Gonzales et al. (2015).Resource and Legal Restrictions
8. Demographic and legal characteristics are important drivers of FLFP in Jordan. Building on the simple associations given in ¶7, Gonzales and others (2015) estimated panel regressions on 90 emerging and developing countries8 over the 1995–2010 period. The regression provides a reasonable fit for the gap between male and female participation rates in Jordan (see figure below). Fertility, educational attainment, daughter inheritance rights, being the head of household and guaranteed equality provide a good fit at predicting male-female gender gap. Higher fertility rate is associated with lower female participation in the labor market and a higher labor force participation gap. On the other hand, higher female educational attainment, the presence of daughters’ inheritance rights, being the head of the household and guaranteed equality help promote female participation in the labor market and reduce the gap.
Jordan: Male Minus Female Participation Rates, 1995-2009
(In percent)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: Gonzales et al. (2015).Jordan: Male Minus Female Participation Rates, 1995-2009
(In percent)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: Gonzales et al. (2015).Jordan: Male Minus Female Participation Rates, 1995-2009
(In percent)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 232; 10.5089/9781484312063.002.A004
Source: Gonzales et al. (2015).9. Recent work has also highlighted that availability of infrastructure and access to finance help increase FLFP. Availability of transportation, better roads and mobile networks help women access work.9 Presence of support networks among female entrepreneurs and availability of finance help raise the productivity of female owned/managed enterprises.10
C. Policy Recommendations
10. A range of revenue, expenditure and legal measures could be used to promote greater FLFP. An integrated set of policies is needed to help bolster FLFP, with significant prospective growth and development implications.11 Comprehensive policies can be effective in boosting women’s economic participation.12 Most notably, fiscal consolidation should help free up resources for higher infrastructure spending such as setting up a reliable and safe public transport system that lowers the cost of accessing jobs,13 and business climate reforms should help promote financial inclusion for women.
11. Among expenditure measures, increased social spending to support child care would be essential. Budgetary resources could be allocated to provide access to comprehensive, affordable, regulated and high-quality daycare services (like mandated childcare in Chile and Mexico or regulated home child care in Turkey, the U.S., and Belgium)14 which would free up women’s time for caring young and elderly and facilitate an increase in FLFP.15 Currently, not all public and private sector institutions have childcare facilities and outside child care facilities’ costs do not outweigh the benefit of seeking work outside of the home. In addition, publicly-financed parental leave schemes through introducing paternity leave,16 promoting parity in paternity and maternity leave, and flexible work arrangements17 can also complement policies to balance family and work responsibilities.18
12. Access to finance for women could be improved to help raise the productivity of enterprises owned and managed by women. Jordanian women are entitled to obtain bank loans and other forms of credit. However, their access is limited by their inability to provide the required collateral.19 In order to raise the productivity of women-owned and -managed enterprises, access to finance should be improved and training and support networks among female entrepreneurs should be developed.20
13. Efforts to mitigate resource restrictions can increase FLFP in Jordan. Finding opportunities to strengthen female inheritance rights on immoveable property can enhance economic opportunity to women.
14. Quotas for senior positions could help boost FLFP. In both the private and public sectors, targeted search for female candidates for senior positions can provide opportunity and acceptance for female leadership.21
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Prepared by Ferhan Salman (MCD).
Calculations are based on an updated version (2015) of Cuberes, D., and M. Teignier (2014). The reason why Jordan stands out relative to its peers in the region could be attributed to the low female labor force participation relative to Jordan’s peers. Jordan sends a significantly high level of labor (usually males) overseas, which in addition to high childcare costs, tend to constrain women to seek outside of home employment.
The Global Gender Gap Index was first introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006 as a framework for capturing the magnitude of gender-based disparities and tracking their progress (WEF, 2015).
World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report (2015).
The 2016 Parliamentary elections increased the number of seats taken by women from 12 to 20, accounting for about 15 percent of total seats.
The World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law Database comprises 143 countries identifying legal and regulatory barriers to women’s economic participation and entrepreneurial activity. The focus of the database is on seven indicators of gender-related differences in the legal and institutional framework. OECD’s social institutions and gender index has 160 countries that combines both the de jure and de facto discrimination of social institutions, through information on laws, attitudes and practices. Discriminatory social institutions are defined as the formal and informal laws, attitudes and practices that restrict women’s and girls’ access to rights, justice and empowerment opportunities (OECD, 2014).
Including Jordan.
Kochhar and others (2013).
Gong, Breunig, and King (2010), Kalb (2009), and Anatonopoulos and Kim (2011).
Partly related to unequal inheritance rights.
