The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is putting the finishing touches on a business and job rehabilitation initiative in the Philippines, with a focus on the country’s hardest-hit Filipino women.
ADB country director Kelly Bird stated in a webinar yesterday that the Manila-based multilateral lender is collaborating with the Department of Labor and Employment on a reform program.
In particular, women in their prime age, Bird added, “we have a variety of measures that are focusing on addressing the gap of women who were displaced in the labor market.”
The vulnerable women who have been displaced will be the focus of our program for women transitioning into new jobs. It will include grants for livelihoods, child care help, and skill development, he said.
The majority of job losses caused by the epidemic over the past two years have been experienced by Filipino women and young people in the labor sector.
Even though they made up only 15% of the workforce before the epidemic, young people aged 15 to 24 accounted for 22 to 28% of all job losses in the Philippines.
44 percent of employment losses among Filipino women in the labor force are attributable to them.
As a result of the epidemic, women’s unemployment rates rose significantly more than men’s did. Previously, women made up just slightly more than 30% of the workforce, but today, they make up about 50% of all unemployed people, according to Bird.
This is being implemented in 47 local governments, and during the past few years, over 28,000 young people have participated in the initiative.
Because of the necessity for some retraining and upskilling, many young people are clearly having trouble integrating into the labor market, so this is especially necessary now, according to Bird.
IMAGE SOURCES: ADB FB PAGE and REUTERS IMAGE
