Hours of work and earnings

72 Figure 5.14: Employed and underemployed persons, by occupational category, and by sex in percentages

5.3.4 Hours of work and earnings

The hours that people work is a good indicator of underemployment in many ways. As discussed in preceding sections, underemployment involves working less than the standard 40 hours a week but being available and willing to work longer hours. However, working excessive hours can indicate a different kind of underemployment associated with low levels of marginal productivity of labour, which force individuals to put in very long hours in order to earn enough just to survive. Hours of work per week Figure 5.16 illustrates the distribution of employment of men and women by the hours they work. What is most noticeable about this chart is the way that the proportion of employed women tapers off as the hours of work increase. So for example, a quarter of the female labour force works less than 15 hours a week on market work. Thus, due to their having to spend much of their time doing household chores, or because of the lack of opportunities to undertake more paid work, their capacity to earn income is very low, of which the corollary is, of course, greater dependence on other members of the family for sustenance. In contrast, the proportion of men engaged in work rises with the hours of work, suggesting their greater capacity to engage in livelihood activities, and consequently, their ability to earn more income. However, the fact that a little less than a fifth of the employed workforce works more than 64 hours a week suggests that these individuals need to put in very long hours in order to earn enough income to survive. 100 94 79 88 92 98 68 52 100 96 79 6 21 12 8 2 32 48 4 21 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Armed forces occupations Managers Professionals Technicians and associated progessionals Clerical support workers Service and sales workers Agriculture, forestry and fisheries workers Craft and related trades workers Plant and machine operators, assemblers Elementary occupations All occupations Percentage Men Women 73 Figure 5.15: Employed and underemployed persons, by hours of work a week, and by sex in percentages Earnings Men earn more than women in every age cohort Figure 5.16 . There is also much more variation in men’s monthly earnings than in women’s monthly earnings. Men’s mean earnings peak at about 11 thousand Afghani s per month when they are between 30 and 49 years of age. Women’s average monthly earnings peak later, when they are in the 40- 49 age cohort. Women’s median monthly earnings almost never exceed 3 thousand Afghanis a month, whereas men’s median monthly earnings reach their maximum at more than twice that amount. While salaried workers in the private and public sectors enjoy the highest mean and median monthly earnings, here too the gender differences are stark Figure 5.17 . Women’s mean and median monthly earnings are lower than men’s earnings in all job status categories except in the public sector. Even when occupation is accounted for, men on average earn at least 30 percent more than women Table 5.5 . In agriculture and forestry work, men earn on average nearly three and a half times as much as women even while accounting for two thirds of the workforce. However, nearly two thirds of the employed female workforce is employed as agriculture and forestry workers suggesting that the vast majority of women are earning less than a fourth of what men earn in the same occupation category. 7 8 15 10 11 17 15 17 25 19 19 9 8 5 5 10 20 40 60 80 100 8-15 16-23 24-31 32-39 40-47 48-55 56-63 64+ Age Men Women 74 Figure 5.16: Mean and median monthly earnings, by age, and by sex in Afghanis a a Earnings data have not been adjusted for spatial variations in prices due to the lack of a suitable price index. Figure 5.17: Mean and median monthly earnings, by job status, and by sex in Afghanis a a Earnings data have not been adjusted for spatial variations in prices due to the lack of a suitable price index. 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-89 Mo n th ly ea rn in g s in A fg h an is Both sexes, mean earnings Both sexes, median earnings Men, mean earnings Men, median earnings Women, mean earnings Women, median earnings 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 Day labourer Own-account worker Employer Salaried worker, private Salaried worker, public Mo n th ly ea rn in g s in A fg h an is Job status Both sexes, mean earnings Both sexes, median earnings Men, mean earnings Men, median earnings Women, mean earnings Women, median earnings 75 Table 5.5: Gender ratios a of mean and median monthly earnings, by occupational group b Occupational group Ratio of mean Ratio of median earnings earnings Managers 2.24 1.71 Professionals 1.31 0.90 Technicians and associated professionals 1.20 1.00 Clerical support workers 3.48 3.33 Service and sales workers 2.89 3.37 Skilled agriculture, forestry and fisheries workers 3.44 3.63 Craft and related trades workers 1.68 1.00 Plant and machine operators, assemblers 2.89 2.62 Elementary occupations 1.45 1.33 a Calculated as the ratio of men to men to women. b Earnings data have not been adjusted for spatial variations in prices due to the lack of a suitable price index.

5.4 Labour migration