Hontiveros bats for more quality jobs for women

Senator Risa Hontiveros today urged all concerned government agencies to create more quality jobs for women to prevent them from leaving or dropping out of the labor force.

Hontiveros warned that if the government fails to address the continuing fall of women participation in the labor force it would outweigh the gains that the country has achieved in narrowing the gender gap in employment. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said women participation in the labor force dropped to 46.9% in January 2021.

“Now more than ever, the government should step up to ensure that women are not left behind in terms of economic opportunities and employment,” Hontiveros said.

Hontiveros earlier pushed for institutionalizing public employment programs (PEPs) that will guarantee women participation in the labor force as in the case of India, South Africa, and Argentina.

The Senator specifically urged the collaboration between the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) as well as the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) to further create decent employment programs to tailor-fit the needs of women today without compromising much-needed social protection.

“Kahit naman noong walang pandemic, limitado ang mga trabaho para sa mga kababaihan. Kadalasan, ang mga kababaihan ay nasa care work — personal service workers, nurses, teachers, at household service workers. Ngayong may krisis pangkalusugan at pang-ekonomiya, tumindi ang pangangailangan sa mga sektor na yan, but they are hard-hit and underpaid,” she said.

Hontiveros then cited a recent report from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) which said there may be more jobs this year, but they are of low quality and are less stable.

“There is a rise in low quality jobs as stressed by the ADB. Marami ang naging parte ng gig economy o informal job sector, ngunit maaaring hindi sila masasalo ng ating social system sa pangmatagalan. Kaya hindi lang basta-bastang trabaho ang dapat ibigay sa mga Pilipino, lalo na sa kababaihan. May pandemya man o wala, dapat may tamang pasahod at benepisyong itinatakda ng batas,” she said.

The senator enjoined government bodies to look at employment numbers in general as they reveal the gender dimensions that poverty and equity issues are more pronounced for women.

“Kailangan pa rin ng ating mga kababaihan ng mas maraming mga oportunidad. When we bring more women to productive work and when we help us reach our full potential, pwedeng kami rin mismo ay magtayo ng sariling enterprise na magbibigay ng trabaho sa iba pang kababaihan. We are not only alleviating poverty, we are also building a vehicle that will to navigate us through this pandemic,” Hontiveros concluded.