Women and Economic Reform in Egypt: Impact of Production Changes on Female Waged Labor Force Participation

Abstract:

The IMF discourse on women’s unemployment in Egypt mostly has focused on infrastructural issues as a key barrier to women’s access to the job market. The scarcity of public nurseries and the unavailability of safe transportation are especially challenging. Our interviews confirmed that these two issues are of utmost importance to women. Nevertheless, we argue that there has been no to little focus on the deeper structural issues concerning the productive side of the economy and its relation to women employment, especially the impact of production changes on women in the aftermath of the 2016 Economic Reform Program (ERP).

Key Words:

• Economic Reform Program
• Egypt
• IMF
• Neoliberalism
• Women’s labor force participation

Disclosure Statement

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (Egypt Office) provided funding for the research project out of which this article was developed.

Notes

1 World Bank (2019) Labor Force Participation Rate, Female (% of Female Population Ages 15+) (Modeled ILO Estimate) - Egypt, Arab Rep. World Bank Data (World Bank). Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS?locations=EG, accessed November 7, 2021.

2 We use the expression ‘waged labor market’ as to avoid undermining other forms of labor.

3 Alexander E. Kentikelenis, Thomas H. Stubbs & Lawrence P. King (2016) IMF Conditionality and Development Policy Space, 1985–2014, Review of International Political Economy, 23(4), p. 4.

4 Kate Donald & Nicholas Lusiani (2017) The IMF, Gender Equality and Expenditure Policy (Bretton Woods Project). Available at https://www.globaltaxjustice.org/sites/default/files/The-IMF-Gender-Equality-and-Expenditure-Policy-CESR-and-BWP-Sept-2017.pdf, accessed August 8, 2020.

5 Era Dabla-Norris & Kalpana Kochhar (2019) Closing the Gender Gap. Imf.org (International Monetary Fund). Available at: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/03/pdf/fd0319.pdf, accessed August 8, 2020.

6 Christine Lagarde (2017) Videos, IMF Videos - When Women Do Better, We All Do Better. International Monetary Fund. Available at: https://www.imf.org/external/mmedia/view.aspx?vid=5468229247001, accessed September 3, 2020.

7 See Mariarosa Dalla Costa & Selma James (1975) The Power of Women and the Subversion of the Community; Maria Mies (1998) ) Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale: Women in the International Division of labor; Silvia Federeci (2004) Caliban and the Witch; Heidi I. Hartman (1979) The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism: Towards a More Progressive Union.

8 Salwa Al-Antary, (2015) Taqdir Qimat Al-'Amal Al-Manzili Ghayr Al-Madfu' Lil Nisaa' Fi Masr (Evaluating the Cost of Unpaid Housework by Women in Egypt), New Woman Foundation (New Woman Foundation). Available at http://nwrcegypt.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%88%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%8A.pdf, accessed August 10, 2020.

9 Ibid.

10 Authors’ Interview conducted on June 28, 2020, and translated by the authors from Arabic.

11 Authors’ Interview conducted on August 17, 2020, and translated by the authors from Arabic.

12 Hebaforename Gowayed (2011) Understanding the Results of the Working Women’s Characteristics Survey, 1st edn. (Giza: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Giza.

13 Nicole Detraz & Dursun Peksen (2015) The Effect of IMF Programs on Women’s Economic and Political Rights, International Interactions, 42(1), pp. 81–105; see also Nilüfer Çağatay & Korkut Ertürk (2004) Gender and Globalization: A Macroeconomic Perspective; Pamela Sparr (1994) Mortgaging Women's Lives: Feminist Critiques of Structural Adjustment.

14 See Carol J. Riphenburg (1997) Changing gender relations and structural adjustment in Zimbabwe; Mervat Hatem (1994) Privatization and the Demise of State Feminism in Egypt.

15 Nabil Abdo (2019) The Gendered Impact of IMF Policies in MENA: The Case of Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia (Oxford : Oxfam).

16 Ibid.

17 Era Dabla-Norris & Kalpana Kochhar (2019), Closing the Gender Gap (Washington, DC : IMF).

18 IMF (2020) IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF), International Monetary Fund (International Monetary Fund). Available at: https://www.imf.org/en/About/Factsheets/Sheets/2016/08/01/20/56/Extended-Fund-Facility, accessed May 5, 2020.

19 IMF (2017) Arab Republic of Egypt: Request for Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility: Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for the Arab Republic of Egypt, International Monetary Fund (International Monetary Fund). Available at: https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2017/01/18/Arab-Republic-of-Egypt-Request-for-Extended-Arrangement-Under-the-Extended-Fund-Facility-44534, accessed May 2, 2020.

20 Ibid., p. 24.

21 Beesan Kassab (2019) Austerity Measures a Major Cause of Poverty Increase, Statistics Agency Advisor Says, Mada Masr. Available at: https://madamasr.com/en/2019/09/04/feature/economy/austerity-measures-a-major-cause-of-poverty-increase-statistics-agency-advisor-says/, accessed May 10, 2020.

22 Shireen Al Azzawi (2015) Is There Feminization of Poverty in Egypt?, Economic Research Forum (ERF). Available at: https://erf.org.eg/publications/is-there-feminization-of-poverty-in-egypt/, accessed August 8, 2020.

23 Yousef Saba (2019) Egypt's Central Bank Seen Maintaining Key Rates: Reuters Poll, Reuters, available at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-cenbank-poll/egypts-central-bank-seen-maintaining-key-rates-reuters-poll-idUSKCN1R60HC, accessed September 3, 2020.

24 Hassan Sherry (2017) Debunking the Myth of a Changing IMF Unpacking Conditionality in the Arab Region Post-Uprisings, ANND (Arab NGO Network for Development), available at: http://www.annd.org/data/file/files/IMF-DebunkingtheMythofaChangingIMF.pdf, accessed May 10, 2020.

25 World Health Organization (2020) Domestic General Government Health Expenditure (GGHE-D) as Percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (%). Available at: https://apps.who.int/gho/data/view.main.GHEDGGHEDGDPSHA2011WBv, accessed May 10, 2020.

26 Centre for Economic and Social Rights (2019) Meeting the Demands for Economic and Social Justice. Available at: https://www.cesr.org/sites/default/files/CESR%20and%20EIPR%20Joint%20Egypt%20UPR%20Submission%20online%20.pdf, accessed May 15, 2020.

27 The amount reaches EGP 600 by the end of the program.

28 IMF, Request for Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility, p. 17.

29 African Development Bank (1999) Arab Republic of Egypt Structural Adjustment Loan 1991–1994 Project Completion Report 1999–2001. Available at: https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Project-and-Operations/ADB-BD-IF-99-130-EN-EGYPT-PCR-SAL.PDF, accessed May 10, 2020.

30 World Bank (2019) Labor Force Participation Rate, Female (% of Female Population Ages 15+) (Modeled ILO Estimate) - Egypt, Arab Rep. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS?locations=EG, accessed May 22, 2020.

31 Authors’ Interview, August 13, 2020; translated from Arabic by the authors.

32 Authors’ Interview conducted on August 3, 2020 and translated by the authors from Arabic.

33 Calculations based on figures from the Central Authority of Public Mobilisation and Statistics. There was no data on newly built nurseries as part of the program in the IMF reports, and we received no response from the IMF when we requested information. Population growth data based on authors’ calculations from available statistics at the Worldometer platform.

34 Authors’ Interview conducted on June 28, 2020 and translated by the authors from Arabic.

35 Interview conducted on July 17, 2020 and translated by the authors from Arabic.

36 Interview conducted on August 10, 2020 and translated by the authors from Arabic.

37 Authors Interview with Noha, Cairo.

38 Kathryn M. Yount, Sarah Zureick-Brown & Rania Salem (2014) Intimate Partner Violence and Women’s Economic and Non-Economic Activities in Minya, Egypt, Demography, 51(3), pp. 1069–1099.

39 Gowayed (2011) Understanding the results of the Working Women’s Characteristics Survey, were published?

40 Dalia Abdel Hamid (2017) The Trap: Punishing Sexual Difference in Egypt, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) (Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). Available at: https://eipr.org/sites/default/files/reports/pdf/the_trap-en.pdf, accessed September 14, 2020.

41 Pesha Magid (2015a) Beatings, Abuse and Blame: Being Transgender in Egypt, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/09/egypt-transgender-community, accessed September 16, 2020.

42 Idem (2015b) On Being Transgender in Egypt, Mada Masr. Available at: https://www.madamasr.com/en/2015/06/04/feature/politics/on-being-transgender-in-egypt/, accessed September 14, 2020.

43 Egyptian Streets (2019) Egyptian Trans Woman Arrested for Protesting Fears Being Placed in a Male Prison, Egyptian Streets. Available at https://egyptianstreets.com/2019/03/07/egyptian-trans-woman-arrested-for-protesting-fears-being-placed-in-a-male-prison/, accessed September 16, 2020.

44 World Bank (2019) Labor Force Participation Rate, Female.

45 Yousef Saba (2019) World Bank Sees Egypt Economy Growing 5.8% in 2019/20, Reuters. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/egypt-economy-worldbank/world-bank-sees-egypt-economy-growing-58-in-2019-20-idUSL3N26U3HC, accessed November 17, 2021.

46 Enterprise (2019) GDP Grows 5.6% in 1Q2019–2020 Mainly Fueled by Five Sectors. Available at: https://enterprise.press/stories/2019/10/31/gdp-grows-5-6-in-1q2019-2020-mainly-fueled-by-five-sectors/, accessed May 22, 2020.

47 CEIC, Egypt | EG: GDP: % of GDP: Gross Value Added: Agriculture | Economic Indicators (CEIC Data). Available at: https://www.ceicdata.com/en/egypt/gross-domestic-product-share-of-gdp/eg-gdp–of-gdp-gross-value-added-agriculture, accessed August 25, 2020.

48 Ragui Assaad (2015) Women’s Participation in Paid Employment in Egypt Is a Matter of Policy Not Simply Ideology, Elnidaa (Egypt Network for Integrated Development). Available at: https://elnidaa.org/app/uploads/2019/07/PB22_women_employment_assaad.pdf, accessed August 9, 2020.

49 See Assaad, Women’s Participation; and Al-Antary, Evaluating the Cost of Unpaid Housework , p. 83.

50 Official figures from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) labour Force Survey

51 Yousef Saba (2018) Egypt's PM Envisages Fewer Civil Servants, Smaller Cabinet, Reuters. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-reforms/egypts-pm-envisages-fewer-civil-servants-smaller-cabinet-idUSKCN1MZ2RR, accessed August 10, 2020.

52 David Lipton (2018) Inclusive Growth and Job Creation in Egypt, Imf.org (International Monetary Fund). Available at: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2018/05/05/sp-egypt-inclusive-growth-and-job-creation-lipton, accessed August 11, 2020.

53 A reportedly common technique by private sector companies to get newly-hired employees to sign their resignation letter at the same time as their employment contract to enable the employer to fire them with minimal legal consequences.

54 Authors’ Interview conducted on June 27, 2020, and translated by the authors from Arabic.

55 Authors’ Interview conducted on July 17, 2020, and translated by the authors from Arabic.

56 Kassab (2019) Austerity measures a major cause of poverty increase.

57 Ibid.

58 GDP calculations are based on gross value added at factor cost, current prices. Source: Ministry of planning, Egypt.

59 Calculated as (a + b+c/2)/2.5.