Labor regulations discriminate against women in most countries, says World Bank
Women are banned from some forms of work in most of the world’s economies, according to a new report from the World Bank.
The latest edition of Women, Business and the Law analyses 173 countries and finds that women face job restrictions in 100 of these, including prohibitions against working at night, working in certain jobs, or working without their husband’s permission.
Overall, the report finds only 18 countries with no laws that discriminate against women: Armenia, Canada, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Malta, Mexico, Namibia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Spain, and Taiwan.
At the other end of the scale, the report lists another 18 countries where women cannot work without their husband’s permission: Bahrain, Bolivia, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Mauritania, Niger, Qatar, Sudan, Syria, the UAE, the West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen.
The report notes that, in France, women are prohibited from work that involves lifting more than 25kg—effectively barring them from working for the postal service or delivery companies—while Russia bans women from 456 different occupations.
Meanwhile the US is one of only four countries worldwide that does not offer any legal right to paid maternity leave, the other three being Tonga, Suriname and Papua New Guinea.
World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim commented that: “When women can work, manage incomes and run businesses, the benefits extend far beyond the individual level—to children, communities and entire economies. We will not rest until women have full economic rights everywhere.”
Women, Business and the Law has published every two years since 2009. It assesses laws and regulations that affect women’s economic opportunities in seven areas: accessing institutions, using property, getting a job, providing incentives to work, going to court, building credit, and protection from violence.
IZA World of Labor author Gianna Claudia Giannelli has written about policies to support women’s paid work in developing countries. In her article, she writes that: “Job and business training policies alone […] are not enough. Women need additional assistance to ease the burdens of family and home care. The demand for childcare services is growing rapidly in developing countries, and governments are taking important steps to provide publicly funded childcare.”
Elsewhere, Sher Verick has also written for us about female labor force participation in developing countries. He argues that: “policies should consider both supply- and demand-side dimensions, including access to better education and training programs and access to childcare, as well as other supportive institutions and legal measures to ease the burden of domestic duties, enhance women’s safety, and encourage private sector development in industries and regions that can increase job opportunities for women in developing countries.”
Read more on this story at the Wall Street Journal. The World Bank report can be found here.
Related articles:
Policies to support women’s paid work by Gianna Claudia Giannelli
Female labor force participation in developing countries by Sher Verick
Find more IZA World of Labor articles on gender here