Position of Women
104
Table 10.4 Selected development indicators, by sex, residence and related gender gap
a
Indicator Sex, residence
Female Male
Gender gap Urban
Rural Kuchi
National Urban
Rural Kuchi
National Urban
Rural Kuchi
National
a. Labour force indicators
Labour force participation rate 19
54 64
47 79
87 92
86 24
61 70
54 Employment-to-population ratio
16 50
61 43
72 82
88 80
22 61
70 54
Unemployment rate 18
7 5
7 9
7 4
7 201
100 106
108 Share in wage employment in the
non-agricultural sector 13
5 4
8 87
95 96
92 15
6 4
9 Proportion of own-account and
contributing family workers in total employment 70
97 98
95 57
69 84
67 123
142 117
141 Share of working children among all children
aged 6-17 4
17 27
15 13
29 44
26 34
60 62
57 Share of child labour among all children
aged 6-17 3
10 19
9 9
18 31
17 30
58 59
54
b. Education indicators
Literacy rate of population 15 years and older 33
7 3
12 62
35 14
39 54
20 19
32 Literacy rate of 15-24 year-olds
52 15
6 24
74 49
16 53
71 31
39 45
Net enrolment ratio in primary education 68
38 12
42 77
60 22
60 88
64 55
70 Ratio of girls to boys in primary education
n.a. n.a.
n.a. n.a.
n.a. n.a.
n.a. n.a.
88 63
53 69
Ratio of girls to boys in secondary education n.a.
n.a. n.a.
n.a. n.a.
n.a. n.a.
n.a. 71
32 58
49
c. Indicators of community representation
Percentage of communities with representatation in Shuras
20 20
12 20
50 57
68 56
40 35
17 35
Percentage of communities with representatation in CDCs
11 41
16 37
19 68
27 61
57 61
61 60
a
The gender gap is calculated as the ratio between the female and male indicator multiplied by 100.
Generally, early marriage and associated early births have been a major cause of rapid population growth, high maternal mortality, inability of girls to finish education, additional constraints to women’s mobility and participation, and escalation
of demands for public investments on social services. Fortunately, very early marriage appears to decline, as the percentage of women who were married before age 15 declined from 11 percent among women who are now 30-34
years old to 3 percent for the currently 15-20 year olds Section 3.3.2. A somewhat smaller decline is suggested for the share of those who were married before age 18.
The average spousal age gap has also narrowed down to five years among younger couples, compared to eight years among older couples. The large age gap between spouses and male casualties during the three decades of war contribute
to a greater number of women than men that have become widowed at age 40-64 3 percent for men and 19 percent for women and beyond 64 years 17 and 61 percent, respectively. There are over half a million widows, who can largely
be classified as being in vulnerable position, along with 70 thousand female heads of households. Sharp focus on these groups of women and their families is needed in implementing the PRSP.
Women are much less predisposed to migration, as men represent the large majority migrants Section 3.5.1. This especially applies to international migration. Women tend to migrate relatively more from rural to rural areas, probably
due to marriage rather than to employment. Overall, female migrants are more likely to be economically inactive. These data indicate persistent cultural restrictions to women’s mobility and highlight the dearth of economic opportunities for
women in the country. Given, however, that youth represents a huge percentage of the country’s population and that migration appears to be especially attractive among them, programmes for the youth, especially female youth, may be
implemented to promote trainingjob-related migration as a group. As unstable security situations may be reinforcing female constraints to migration, the identification of ‘peace zones’ that could be classified as safe locations for women’s
in-country migration, may also be explored.
