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views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this paper do not imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's terminology.

Gender and Labor Market Issues in Cambodia

KEO Socheat Research Associate

Outline
Introduction Economic context
Gendered labor market analysis Implications for policy
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Economic context: GDP Growth Rate 1994-2010

15 0
2005 2010 year Source: National Institute of Statistics & Ministry of Economy and Finance
MEF (2010) and NIS (2011)

5
1995

10

2000

: Economic context: Share of GDP by Sector, 1994-2010

50 10 20 30 40

1995

2000 year Agriculture Services

2005 Industry

2010

Note: values in 2010 are estimates Source: National Institute of Statistics & Ministry of Economy and Finance
4

Economic context: :Poverty and Inequality

Poverty head count declined 34.8 % from 2004 to 30.1% between 2004-07, but inequality rose as Gini coefficient increased from 0.39 to 0.43 (World Bank 2009).
Gendered inequality: 52% of the 20% poorest population (poorest quintile) were female in 2007 (World Bank 2009)

This shows the gender disparities in economic empowerment, which motivates the focus of this study.
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Gendered labor market analysis

The Framework for Gender Analysis

The supply of labor is determined by:
Education, literacy, TVET Domestic work burden (number of children, household chores)

The demand for labour is determined by

Macro-level (economic growth, FDI, trade) Micro-level ( employers decision)

Market interaction
Demand and supply interact with regulations, institutions
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Labour force participation rate , 15-64 years, by sex

2004 Both sexes Women Men 82.2 77.5 87.4 2009 84.4 80.4 88.8 2010 87.0 84.2 90.0

Source: CSES 2009 and 2010 (NIS/MOP, 2010 & 2011a)

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Adult literacy rates (percent)

2011 Age Group Change 2004-2011

Both Sexes

Male

Female

Both Sexes

Male

Female

Total 15+ 79.9 15-24 65+

87.8
91.6 75.5

72.6
91.3 25.9

15.0
13.8 28.8

9.3
8.9 16.5

21.2
18.9 81

91.5 45.2

NIS (2012): http://www.nis.gov.kh/nis/CSES/Data/CSES_Education2.html

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Education
Net School Enrolment Rates in Cambodia, by level, 2009-2010
2004 Girls Primary School Cambodia Lower Secondary School Cambodia Upper Secondary School Cambodia 75.9 Boys 77.2 Total 76.6 Girls 82.1 2009 Boys Total Girls 80.2 81.1 87.9 2010 Boys 83.4 Total 85.6

Net enrolment rate

17.5

16.3

16.9

33.1

30

31.5

29.7

31.8

30.8

9.7

9.9

9.8

17.4

18.3

17.9

17.7

17.5

17.6
10

Source: CSES 2009 and 2010 (NIS/MOP, 2010 & 2011a)

Technical and vocational education and training (aged 15 to 64 )by sex in 2008
Male Female 7,853 36.52 Total 21,504 100

TECHNICAL/VOCATIONAL (pre-secondary)
(%) between M and F

13,651 63.48

(%) share to total TECHNICAL/VOCATIONAL (post-secondary) (%) between M and F

(%) share to total

0.4
27,158 64.47 0.8

0.25
14,970 35.53 0.47

0.33
42,128 100 0.64

Source: Authors estimate based on Census 2008 (Data file at individual level)

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Cultural and traditional factors

the gender stereotypes arising from a traditional culture and society (MoWA, 2008)
Poverty is another constraint to females access to education. Ex: among Persons Aged 6-17, household chores, income generation activities and poverty are the females main reasons for not attending school (CSES 2010 of NIS/MOP, 2011)
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Employment status (Aged 15-64) by Sex 2004-2010

2004 2009 2010 Both Women Men sexes 24.3 35.4 29.8 26.9 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 56.0 34.4 49.0 2.3 47.5 29.1 1.7 41 39 2 52.4 24.5 0.1 46.1 22.6 0.1 49.2 19.3 23.5 0.3 0.1
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Both Both Women Men sexes Women Men sexes Paid employee Employer Own account worker/Selfemployed Unpaid family worker Other/Don't know 19.6 0.1 29.2 0.1 24.4 0.1 22.8 30.9 0.3 0.3

44.7

50.4

19.5 0.2

19.4 0.2

CSES 2010 (NIS/MOP, 2011a).

Employment, by selected industrial categories , age (15+), Men and Women, Sexes, 1998-2008
1998
Men (% of Both sexes male (% of employment total) )

2008
Women (% of female employment )
81.80 3.07 0.23 Both sexes (% of total) 72.13 6.22 2.05 Men (% of of Women (% male Employment ) of female Employment ) 69.16 4.14 3.54 5.85
74.97

Agriculture, hunting and forestry Manufacturing Construction Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motorcycle and personal and household goods Transportation and Storage Public administration and defense; compulsory social security Hotel and food service activity

75.57 3.11 0.94

69.40 3.14 2.00

8.22 0.62

6.94 2.36

9.08 4.00

4.69 0.47

7.80 2.26 4.21

9.67 0.40

4.90
4.60 0.3 8.62 0.35 0.76 0.25 2.76 0.87 0.67 0.72 1.06 14

Source: Census 2008 (NIS/MOP 2009a) cited in ILO (2010)

Employment by main occupation sub-Sector and earnings age (15 - 64) in 2009
Economic Activity Share to total Share in Amount of Amount of Ratio of code employment? womens earnings in earnings in female (%) employment Riels Riels received and male (%) received by by male per earnings females month per month 631 25.47 32 111,400 172,100 0.65

Subsistence crop farmers

Subsistence 632 livestock farmers

Market gardeners 611 and crop growers Street and market 541 salespersons

10.05
7.51 5.03

8.29
7.65 6

122,850
110,400 159,700

90,000
1.37 159,900 0.69 229,300 0.70
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Authors estimates based on CSES 2009 (NIS/MOP, 2010)

Summary of key points and suggestions

High Labour Force Participation Rate for women High industrial segregation by sex women are primarily unpaid family workers on farmers and garment workers High gender wage gap

At the same time, diversifying the base of economy should be further accelerated. Future potential employment prospects manufacturing and tourism
levels of education and literacy, particularly of women remain low
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Policy implications
To enhance the decent employment opportunities for women, further improvement in womens quality labour force should remain a development agenda.
The government should increasingly improve agriculture to help poverty reduction and employment of women Thus, efforts to improve parity in women access to education and TVET should be further exerted. Women access to the jobs in public sector should be further promoted

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References
International Labour Organisation (2010), Labour and Social Trends in Cambodia (Phnom Penh: ILO Cambodia) Ministry of Womens Affairs (2008), A Fair Share for Women: Cambodia Gender Assessment (Phnom Penh: MOWA) Ministry of Economy and Finance (2010), Cambodia Macroeconomic Framework 20102011 (Phnom Penh: MEF) National Institute of Statistics (2009a), General Population Census of Cambodia 2008 (Phnom Penh: NIS/MOP) National Institute of Statistics (2010), Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey CSES 2009 (Phnom Penh: NIS/MOP) NIS (2011), National Accounts of Cambodia 1993-2010, (Bulletin No 15), (Phnom Penh: National Institute of Statistics, Ministry of Planning) National Institute of Statistics (2011a), Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey CSES 2010 (Phnom Penh: NIS/MOP) Royal Government of Cambodia (2010) National Strategic Development Plan Update 2009-2013 (Phnom Penh: Royal Government of Cambodia) World Bank (2009), Poverty Profile and Trends in Cambodia: Findings from the 2007 Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey (Washington DC: World Bank)

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Consulting references
Klasen, Stephan (2010), Measuring and Monitoring Inclusive Growth: Multiple Definitions, Open Questions, and Some Constructive Proposals, ADB Sustainable Development Working Paper Series 12 Cambodia Development Resource Institute (2011), Driving High Growth and Sustainable Development for Cambodia: Indicators, Prospects and Policy Priorities, Cambodia Outlook Brief, No.1 (Phnom Penh: CDRI) International Labour Organization (2006), Decent Work in the Informal Economy in Cambodia (Thailand: ILO) Royal Government of Cambodia (2009), Sub-Decree on The Establishment and Functioning of The National Employment Agency (Phnom Penh) World Bank (2010), Providing Skills for Equity and Growth: Preparing Cambodias Youth for the Labour Market (Washington DC: World Bank) World Bank (2007), Sharing Growth (Phnom Penh: World Bank Cambodia)
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Thank you

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