Monday, January 6, 2003
Study reveals unmarried Jordanians have a higher unemployment rate
A story released today by the Jordanian Times reports that according to Jordan’s Department of Statistics, out of every 100 Jordanian women, only between 7-8 are economically active compared to 40 percent rate of their male counterparts.
Illiteracy, which affects 10.4 percent of the population aged 15 years old and above, was also three times higher among women at 15.3 percent against 5.6 percent among men, according to the survey.
The study, conducted on a sample of nearly 10,000 households and covering the last quarter of 2002, revealed that unemployment was higher among women at around 19 percent compared to 13.5 per cent among men.
In a male-dominated society, men are traditionally considered to be the breadwinners for their families.
An estimated 37 percent of the economically active women hold BA degrees compared to 16 percent of economically active men.
Women employment is concentrated in the education sector at 44 per cent while 13 percent work in the health sector and in the social field.
When the marital status is taken into account, the unemployment was higher among the singles at 24 percent, compared to 5.7 percent among the married.
