▶ Links: Click this article’s entry in ‘Table of Contents’ on our website
A synthesis of a recent report published by The Central Administration of Statistics (CAS), and two others by UN Women, one in conjunction of the World Bank – International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the other with the European Union (EU), are showing major strides in the levels of participation and pay for women in the country. Educational levels of women improved at a much faster pace compared to men during the last 30 years. This has led to a substantial increase in their participation in the labor force. University education has also shrunk the wage gap. Despite this improvement, the gender gap remains in labor force participation and pay. The recent economic, Covid-19 pandemic, and the port explosion crises have further widened these gaps. Women are also underrepresented in top managerial positions and among business owners. The future, however, holds encouraging prospects as the outcome of female educational achievements will materialize further over the long run. Women have a better prospective in growing sectors like the knowledge economy, tourism, agriculture, and industrial production.
Education enhances female work participation
Females with university education currently outnumber men. As a result, their participation in the labor force has increased significantly
The percentage of female residents (both Lebanese and foreign nationals) of the 25-49 years age group who had attained tertiary education grew at a faster pace than males over the 2004-2019 period and more than doubled to nearly 37 percent, according to a report by CAS released in 2021. Women holding a university degree, which were fewer than men in 2004, outnumbered them in 2018-2019. The CAS report titled ‘The Life of Women and Men in Lebanon: A Statistical Portrait’, showed that the share of Lebanese women who had attained tertiary education reached nearly 43 percent in 2018-2019 and exceeded the corresponding percentage of Lebanese males which was 35 percent. The
