ILOILO CITY — The Philippine Statistics Authority reported a 96.7 percent employment rate for women in Western Visayas region in 2023.
VENDORS at the public market in San Miguel town, Iloilo province are mostly women. (Tara Yap)
“In terms of magnitude, the number of employed females was about 1.47 million,” the PSA-6 noted in a special report released this week.
The PSA-6 said the employment rate for women in the region is higher than men by 1.4 percent with 95.3 percent.
However, men still dominate the workforce in almost all sectors in the region comprised of Aklan, Anique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental provinces as well as the highly urbanized cities of Iloilo and Bacolod.
Men outnumber women in government offices, government corporations, private establishments, self-employment, or family-operated businesses or farms.
But the PSA-6 found out that around 59.2 percent of employed women were not paid for working in these family enterprises.
“In family-owned farms or business—where the sex ratio reaches approximately 230 males per 100 females—indicating a significant gender imbalance in entrepreneurial leadership within family-operated enterprises,” the PSA-6 said.