In this era, women are no longer confined to the role of a housewife, and many of us are out here working to make a living.
Be it as it may, there is still some inequality between the genders within the workforce, as reported by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
DOSM reports that the Malaysia Gender Gap Index (MGGI) score for 2022 stands at 0.694, where 1.0 signifies that equality has been achieved. The MGGI for 2021 was at 0.692.
The index spans 4 sub-indices: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment.
Women outperformed men in 2 sub-indices: educational attainment (1.067) and health and survival (0.961).
However, what caught our eye is the economic participation and opportunity, where the index is at 0.644. According to a poster by DOSM, there were 4 key findings in this sub-index. It is said that 40.7% of women and 59.3% of men are professional and technical workers.
Only 24.6% of legislators, senior officials and managers are women, while the rest are men, and for every RM100 that a man earns, a woman earns RM66.67. The labour force participation rate was low for women as well, at 55.8%, compared to other Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam (75.2%) and Singapore (73.2%).
The male labour force participation rate was at 81.9%.
In terms of the political empowerment sub-index, the lowest index was recorded (0.102), as only 17.9% of women held ministerial positions in 2022.
Chief Statistician Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin, says that DOSM is committed to providing statistics related to gender equality.
“Recognising the significant role of women, Malaysia is dedicated to achieve gender equality and promoting the rights of women and girls which is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and Twelfth Malaysia Plan (12MP).”
This is certainly a very interesting set of data. What is your take on this? Let us know in the comments.
Also read: Study: M’sian Citizens Have Lower Life Expectancy Than Foreigners Living in Our Country
