Global and national indices on women reveal areas to improve in Philippine women’s economic opportunity. These global and national indices point to the fact that business environment has to be more enabling for women in MSMEs to realize their potentials as entrepreneurs and workers and be economically empowered.
The Philippines has a Gross National Income per capita of USD 1,886 for a population of 90.3 million. In the 2009 Global Gender Gap Report, the Philippines ranked 11 in 134 in the Economic Participation and Opportunity, where the country posted sub-rankings of 97 in labour force participation, 22 in wage equality for similar work, and 48 in estimated earned income.
The 2010 Women’s Economic Opportunity Index in the Philippines ranked 64 of 113 countries. In the sub-categories, the Philippines registered relatively high in labour policy (Rank 37) and labor practice (Rank 39), but ranked low in access to finance (Rank 88), education and training (Rank 62), women’s legal and social status (Rank 76) and general business environment (Rank 83).
Measuring the ease of doing business in a country, the 2010 World Bank of Doing Business Report profiled the Philippines with an overall ranking of 144 out of 183 countries. The Philippines ranked starting a business (Rank 162), getting credit (Rank 127), paying taxes (Rank 135) and closing a business (Rank 153).
An international comparison on Philippine data on labor force and employment showed that the Philippines, with its 49.3 percent labor force participation rate (LFPR), lagged slightly behind the LFPRs of South East Asia and the Pacific (59.1 percent in 2007), East Asia (67.1 percent in 2007) and World estimates (52.6 percent in 2008. According to the 2009 National Statistics Office data, women workers comprise two-fifths of the Philippine labor force.
Comparing employment rates, the Philippines posted a 93.3 percent employment rate for women, slightly lagging behind the prevalent employment rate of 94 percent in East Asia and the 93.7 percent of the 2008 world estimate.
Unemployment rates in the Philippines are slightly higher in vulnerable employment at 6.7 percent in 2009, above unemployment rates of Southeast Asia and the Pacific (6 percent), East Asia (6%) and world estimates (6.3%) in 2008.