A new report has found that while women in Jamaica have made significant progress in the workplace, occupying most of the management positions, issues of equal pay remain a concern.

The Gender Assessment Report, which was sponsored by the World Bank Group and the Canadian High Commission, reviewed the barriers faced by women and men in Jamaica in the aspects of endowments such as health and education, economic opportunity, and agency.

It pointed out that “Jamaica recently registered the largest share of women in management positions not only in the region but also in the world: 59 per cent, followed by Colombia and Belize, where women’s representation is above 50 per cent.”

However, despite the positive development, women continue to lag on the wage front.

“Women earn only 68 per cent of men’s yearly incomes, and among technicians and associate professionals, they earn on average two-thirds of the salary men receive,” the report noted.

It also pointed out that the gender wage gap widens as the level of education rises.

“On average, Jamaican women earn 19 per cent lower salaries than men. Among individuals with no education, women earn 83 per cent of men’s annual income. The remuneration of women with tertiary education decreases to 75 per cent of men’s remuneration.”

The gender assessment found that women’s labour force participation is also lower than men’s due to their disproportionate role in unpaid household and care work. However, men were found to be more likely than women to hold informal and vulnerable jobs.

“Unpaid care and domestic work take 18.1 per cent of [women’s] daily time while men’s share is 8.2 per cent. Moreover, 45.2 per cent of women report paid work as their main activity, compared to 62.7 per cent of men,” the Gender Assessment Report outlined.

“Only 31 per cent of women, aged 15-24, were in the labour force in 2019, compared to 38.3 per cent of men in the same age bracket,” the report stated.

Director of population and health at the Planning Institute of Jamaica, Mareeca Brown, explained that with the information now available, a particular value will have to be placed on the work that women do in the household.

“We can now look specifically at what are the programmatic interventions that can be used to address this particular issue [low woman participation in the labour force],” Mareeca said.

She added that the report will help point to the need to improve the support that is given to families. A similar solution was cited in the report saying if women’s provision of affordable quality childcare was improved, it could expand Jamaican women’s participation in the labour force.

“Most of the women we’ve spoken to and persons who have submitted a proposal, what they really want to do is [open a business] because it allows them the flexibility of doing work/life balance,” Sharon Robinson, principal director of the Bureau of Gender Affairs, told the Jamaica Observer in an interview.

Robinson said she believes if women are given the opportunity, as much as 80 per cent could become entrepreneurs.

“So anything that needs to be done, if it is not being done, then we should look at what causes it to not be done, what are the barriers, so if the barriers are capital, lack of resources, financial human or otherwise, lack of demand” we should take them into consideration, Robinson added.

And while the finding showed that Jamaican women and men entrepreneurs face similar barriers to operate their businesses, women entrepreneurs face challenges related to gender roles, social norms, and the business environment.

“Jamaican women entrepreneurs reported the lack of an enabling environment that supports their need to balance work and family caregiving responsibilities; limited access to affordable and gender-sensitive financial and non-financial,” cited the report.

The report found that Jamaica’s legal framework for gender equality is developed but still need room for improvement.

The assessment recommended three key areas of action:

1) Investing in building the human capital of women and (especially) young men

2) Expanding, supporting, and promoting the productive role of women

3) Increasing women’s capacity to make decisions and act on them

It was noted that clear and comprehensive implementation plans will be needed for these policies, as gaps in implementation can hamper reform effectiveness.

“Creating a dynamic and inclusive society and providing opportunities for women and girls to acquire the skills and earnings to succeed should be an economic priority for countries,” said World Bank Caribbean Country Director Lilia Burunciuc.

“We hope this report will be the impetus needed for the formulation of relevant policy actions to address the issues emerging from the assessment. The bank stands ready to continue our support to Jamaica in this regard.”

The assessment was conducted through a series of consultations with diverse stakeholders on key gender issues in Jamaica. A total of five virtual sessions were held in each round of consultations to discuss findings and prioritise policy recommendations, involving more than 20 participants from Government and civil society organisations, academia, and development partners in Jamaica.

Canada and the World Bank Group have a long history of working together to finance projects, design policies, and deliver programmes to end poverty and create a world based on the principles of sustainable development. Closing the gender gap is a fundamental and shared priority for achieving sustainable economic growth.