ILO: COVID-19 pandemic creates more gender inequalities in Vietnam

Ilustrative image (Hoang Nguyen/VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - A new report by the International Labor Organisation (ILO) in Vietnam shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has not only deepened the existing inequalities but also created new gender inequalities.

Female workers shoulder double responsibilities

More than 70 percent of Vietnamese women at working age participate in the labor force compared to a global rate of 47.2 percent and the Asia-Pacific average of 43.9 %. In addition, although the gender disparity in labor force participation rate is smaller in Vietnam than in the world, this gap has remained at 9.5 percent over the past decade (the rate of men’s labour force participation is higher than that of women’s).

According to the research report “Gender and the labor market in Vietnam: An analysis based on labor-employment survey data,” the unequal distribution of family responsibilities in Vietnamese society may be the cause. of this disparity.

The study also shows that the active participation of Vietnamese women in the labour force should not be confused as an indicator that women enjoy equal opportunities.

According to Valentina Barcucci, Labor Economics expert at ILO Vietnam, who is the lead author of the study, before the COVID-19 pandemic, both women and men had relatively easy access to jobs, but in general, the quality of women’s jobs is lower than that of men."

Female workers account for the majority of vulnerable jobs, especially housework. Their income is lower than that of men (monthly wages are 13.7 percent lower in 2019) regardless of working hours being comparable to men and the gender gap in educational attainment having been narrowed significantly .

In particular, the percentage of women holding decision-making positions is still too low. Women make up nearly half of the workforce, but hold less than 25 percent of general leadership and management positions.

“Inequality against women in terms of job quality and career development is also rooted in the dual responsibility they have to shoulder. Women spend twice as much time doing housework as men," said Valentina Barcucci.

Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic from gender perspective

The pandemic has resulted in a significant decrease in the total number of working hours in the second quarter of 2020 and the situation has only been restored in the second half of the year. Women are the those who suffer the most from the problem.

Women's total weekly working hours in the second quarter of 2020 was only 88.8 percent of their total working hours in the fourth quarter of 2019, compared with 91.2 percent for men. However, women's working hours recovered more quickly. In the last three months of 2020, women working hours is 0.8 percent more than in the same period in 2019, while the rate is just 0.6 percent among men.

"Women working more hours than usual in the second half of 2020 are likely to make up for lost earnings in the second quarter. These extra hours add to the double burden they have already carried worse, because they still have to spend too much time doing housework compared to men," emphasized Ms. Valentina Barcucci.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only increased the existing inequalities in the Vietnamese labor market, but also created new inequalities. Before the pandemic, there was almost no difference in the unemployment rate between men and women, but this situation has been present since the third quarter of 2020.

“The root cause of inequality in the labor market is the traditional roles that women are expected to play, and these expectations are reinforced by social norms,” said Dr. Chang-Hee. Lee, Director of ILO Vietnam.

Dr. Chang-Hee Lee said: “Although at the policy level, the 2019 Labor Code has opened up opportunities to narrow the gender gap, Vietnam still has an even more difficult task to complete. It is changing the mindset of Vietnamese men and women themselves, thereby changing their behaviour in the labor market.”/