Page 14 - AEI Insights 2020 - Vol. 6, Issue 1

AEI Insights, Vol 6, Issue 1, 2020

Figure 4: Labour force participation rate by gender (%) for ASEAN countries, 2000 and 2017
Source: ASEAN Secretariat, ASEANstats database in ASEAN Key Figures 2018 (ASEAN 2018c: 24).

ASEAN countries are committed to promoting women’s right at the regional and national level.
All member states have ratified the Convention on All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW) (ASEAN, 2016b:1). The Philippines ratified the Convention in 1981
followed by Lao PDR, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand. In the 1990s, Cambodia, Malaysia,
Singapore and Myanmar acceded to the Convention and finally Brunei Darussalam in 2006.
However, women continue to face significant barriers to participation in the labour market
including the unavailability of reliable and affordable childcare services.
The theory of female labour supply suggests that there is a strong negative correlation between
the presence of children in a household and female labour supply. This relationship has been
observed in many countries (Del Boca, Pasqua & Pronzato 2005; Francesconi 2002; Mincer
1962; Moffitt 1984; Nakamura & Nakamura 1994; Klasen & Pieters 2015). However, the
correlation between fertility and female labour force participation was positive in several
OECD countries in the late 1980s (Del Boca & Locatelli, 2006). This change was attributed to
changes in work-family policies such as the introduction of parental paid leave and affordable
childcare.

This suggests the importance of work-family policies in ASEAN countries. A lack of policies
to reduce the potential opportunity costs of children, such as subsidised childcare, parental
leave and child benefits may deter women from entering the labour market. In contrast, study
in developing country such as Indonesia shows that a higher direct cost of children increases
the pressure for women to work (Priebe, 2010). The presence of children may have both a
negative and positive effects on maternal work. In view of the demographic transition in the
ASEAN region, this transition can be converted into dividends if more women are encouraged
to work (United Nations Development Programme, 2016: 56). The availability of quality and
decent work for women is therefore important.
Women entering the labour market are disadvantaged in finding quality paid employment,
forcing them to look to other sources of income, notably self-employment (OECD-ASEAN,
2017: 17). The self-employment rates for women in ASEAN is high, roughly 50 percent
compared to an average of 13% in OECD countries (OECD-ASEAN, 2017). Women-owned

14