Sex inequalities in Third World employment: statistical evidence.

As a complement to the other chapters in this book which analyze the situation of women in nonagricultural employment within specific Third World contexts this paper provides a more general statistical overview of sex inequalities in employment in developing countries. This paper focuses on womens share of nonagricultural employment and how it varies by employment status (i.e. whether the person is a salaried employee self-employed or an unpaid family worker) and by type of occupation. The current overview includes data from 51 developing countries with employment statistics at least as recent as 1970. Where available country data from the 1960s and 1970s are presented in order to assess trends. This paper also includes evidence on sex segmentation as revealed by data on detailed occupational classifications as well as on earnings differences between men and women. Womens share of nonagricultural employment varies enormously among developing countries. This variability is greatest among countries at lower levels of development where very high or very low participation of women in nonagricultural activities may be found. There are 2 occupational categories where women are overrepresented in most developing countries--professional workers and service workers.