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Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Understanding How Gender Norms in MNA Report No: ACS25170 . Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Understanding How Gender Norms in MNA Impact Female Employment Outcomes Public Disclosure Authorized . June 1, 2018 . GSU11 MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA . Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Standard Disclaimer: This volume is a product of the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/ The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Copyright Statement: The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this work without permission may be a violation of applicable law. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/ The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and will normally grant permission to reproduce portions of the work promptly. For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work, please send a request with complete information to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA, telephone 978-750-8400, fax 978-750-4470, http://www.copyright.com/. All other queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to the Office of the Publisher, The World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA, fax 202-522-2422, e-mail [email protected]. MNA GSURR & eMBeD TTLs: Mariana T. Felicio & Varun Gauri Team Members: Iman Kalyan Sen, Tasmia Rahman, Anoud Allouzi, Samantha Constant EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Do women in Jordan want to work? How do men feel about working women in their family? To what extent do personal beliefs and societal expectations influence a woman’s decision to work and why should this matter in development interventions? The Jordanian government and development partners have invested heavily in promoting women’s economic inclusion. However, Jordan has the lowest female labor force participation (FLFP) in the world of a country not at war. As development practitioners working on issues related to social and economic inclusion in the Middle East and North Africa (MNA) region, we ask ourselves these questions to help us understand binding constraints that prevent excluded groups, such as women and youth, from having equal opportunity to improve their quality of life. We also ask these questions to distinguish between our own and others’ perceived notion of inclusiveness. Building evidence from the field is key to enable development practitioners design more effective interventions to support female labor force participation. 2. The study’s1 objective was to measure the extent to which social norms and beliefs concerning gender influence women’s access to and participation in the labor market. It aimed at producing insights on what barriers women could be facing, and the extent to which individual beliefs versus social norms play a role. Results of this study contribute measurable evidence to gaps in social norms literature. There are many studies that have looked at structural and institutional barriers as well as identified social norms as a barrier to labor market participation, however many of these do not delve into mechanisms through which norms influence behavior nor do they explore intra-household dynamics in a measurable way. Similarly, others have talked about masculinity, without looking more closely at how it plays out at the household level. In contrast, the Jordan study also examines intra- household dynamics and how expectations of women’s spouse or male relative’s beliefs could be a constraint as well. 3. The study’s sample confirmed that 60% of non-working women actually want to work.2 The large majority of Jordanians are in favor of women working outside the home, and almost two-thirds of non-working women would like to work.3 Women’s preferences and personal beliefs are not a major obstacle to participation, therefore would likely respond favorably to policies that address some of their binding constraints. 4. The study also confirmed some of the most important binding constraints for women. These are: childcare, flexibility, part-time work, hiring and wage discrimination, limited job growth, lack of 1 The study was co-led and co-financed by GSURR MNA and eMBed teams. 2 More than 24% of these had in fact inquired about working within the last six months. Some 17% of non-working women had worked at some point in the past. Among all respondents, only 3% said they were opposed to women working; and only 15% were opposed to women working outside the home. 3 More than 60% of non-working women in our sample expressed a desire to work. More than 24% of these had in fact inquired about working within the last six months. Some 17% of non-working women had worked at some point in the past. Among all respondents, only 3% said they were opposed to women working; and only 15% were opposed to women working outside the home. adequate public transportation, particularly in rural areas, and scarcity of attractive job opportunities, lack of jobs in the public sector. 5. It is increasingly clear that intra-household expectations (i.e. expectations of respondents about their counterpart’s beliefs) matter in female labor force participation (FLFP) decisions. Both men and women agreed that men are the ultimate decision makers in the household; including deciding for women on whether to accept a job offer or not. More than 90% of women respondents said that, in the decision to work, the views of male household members (mostly husbands) are important or extremely important. Women seemed to prefer to seek advice from fathers, because they believed that they are more experienced.4 6. While women’s actions are more aligned with men’s preferences, women tend to underestimate the position of their counterparts on issues related to preference around women’s work. For example, working married women underestimate how disapproving people – particularly men – are of married working women returning home after 5pm. • 35% of women believe their counterparts will disapprove of them working in mixed-gender environments, however 60% of men admit they disapprove. • 42% of women believe their counterparts will disapprove of married women returning after 5pm; in reality 70% of men disapprove. • 42% of men believe that women prefer to stay at home to take care of children and household, versus 37% of women. • One of the most common reasons for not working cited by women is discouragement from the husband (19%); men slightly underestimate this (14%) • Occupational preferences of women are very different from what they actually do and tend to be more closely aligned to occupational preferences that male relatives hold for them.5 For example, a third of all working female respondents are currently employed in the education sector, however only 19% indicate these to be “ideal jobs”. 7. Beliefs and expectations about women working in mixed gender environments pose certain barriers for women. This may be partially attributed to fears about harassment, as 44% respondents believe that working women are exposing themselves to harassment.6 One-third of respondents also believe that working women are risking their reputation by working. Together, these beliefs may not only restrict the types of jobs women can take up (i.e. jobs in mixed-gender workplaces), but also give rise to additional concerns about personal safety and reputation when deciding whether to work. Many working women (58%) believe that it is okay for women to work in environments where most other employees are men; non-working women are slightly more conservative (46%); and men with non- working counterparts are even more conservative (22%). 4 Only 25% agreed that a woman has the right to work if it makes the men in the household uncomfortable. 5 In contrast, 30% of male respondents find jobs in the education sector to be ideal for their female relatives. Similarly, while only 8% of working women are in the sale and service industry, 14% consider jobs in this sector to be ideal, compared to 8% of men. 6 The estimate is slightly lower for working women and their male counterparts (34%-36%), and higher for non- working women and their counterparts (around 47%). 8. Men seem to underestimate the demands placed on women once they are married. For women, getting married is one of the key reasons for exiting the labor market. According to men, child bearing is the key factor for women to leave the labor market. Nevertheless, the main reason expressed during focus group discussions for women not working or disengaging from the work force was due to having children. The long working hours made it difficult for some of the women in the discussion to juggle work, taking care of a newborn, and household responsibilities. Surprisingly, working women returning after 5pm seems to be a binding constraint: only 26% of men and women think it is okay for working women to return after 5pm. Societal expectations are that women should take care of all the household chores (cooking, cleaning, caring for children, taking them to school, etc.). Men’s contribution to household chores is negligible, regardless of women’s work status, (except when it comes to feeding children).7 9. Having younger children can restrict labor force participation for married women as well. According to respondents, a child should be at least 4.5 years old before the mother can leave him or her at daycare (or elsewhere) and go to work.
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