Asian development bank

Table 2: Sex-Disaggregation in Decision-Making Bodies, 2017

(%)

Institution	Women	Men
Legislative Chamber	15	85
Senate	17	83
Jokargy Kenes (parliament), Republic of Karakalpakstan	13	87
Oliy Majlis (parliament)	16	84
Council of deputies Regions and the city of tashkent	12	88
district level (tuman)	23	77
deputy hokims province level	16.6	83.4
district level	25	75

Source: data provided by the WCU to adB during data gathering for this CGa update.

³⁰ “Hero of Uzbekistan” is the highest state award from the president of Uzbekistan and the highest standard of excellence, given by the state to citizens of outstanding merit, and also to people associated with a feat of heroism.
³¹ Sputnik International. 2017. Speech of president Shavkat Mirziyoev. 8 March.. www.sputnik.uz
³² there are six deputy hokims in each of 14 regions/viloyat on economic issues and entrepreneurship, agriculture, issues concerning women and the youth, capital construction, communications and investment, and religious and social organizations.
³³ there are 193 districts/cities with four deputy hokims for each district—for economic issues and entrepreneurship, for agriculture, and for issues concerning women and the youth. there are 772 deputy district hokims, including 193 women (25%).
Crosscutting Gender Equality Issues 11

1. Employment and the Labor Market

the government does not hinder women’s participation in the labor market or entrepreneurship. However, although women compose 49.6% of the population, their share in formal employment (45.7%) is lower than the men’s (54.3%).³⁴ In January–September 2017, “the number of unemployed people—the “unoccupied population,” under Resolution 106 of 24 May 2007 of the Cabinet of Ministers—totaled 765,300, or 5.4% of the economically active population.³⁵

In January–October 2017, 218,291 a total of individuals applied to the Centers of assistance to employment and Social protection, under the Ministry of Labor and employment. among

these, 113,376 (52%) were women. Notably, among 192,926 applicants who received help from the centers, 90,843 (47%) were women.³⁶

aside from lower female participation in the labor force, the labor market displays clear gender segregation by sector. Women are highly represented in the social sectors (education, health care and social services, accommodation, and catering services), which typically offer lower salaries, while men predominate in technical fields (construction, industry, transport, finance and insurance, information and communication technology), which usually offer higher salaries. (detailed sex-disaggregated data on employment by economic sector are shown in appendix 1.)

More than 94.2% of workers in construction and 92.8% in transport and communications are male. Women account for 76.5% of all employees in health care, welfare, and sports, and

compose 75.6% of workers in education, culture, the arts, and sciences.³⁷ areas that hire large numbers of women offer lower wages than sectors where men dominate (Figure 1).
In 2016, the highest wages were in finance and insurance, sectors where women composed only 37.3% of the workforce, compared with 62.7% for men. Women’s employment in information and communication technology was even lower, at 32.7%, compared with 67.3% for men.³⁸

Gender stereotypes largely define women’s choices in courses and prospects for employment. When selecting a career, girls are motivated less by employment and success, but rather by the desire to obtain a qualification that will be useful in family life (e.g., health worker, teacher, or seamstress) (footnote 3). Women in rural areas are much less competitive in the labor market, largely because of the limited number of formal jobs available locally and the lack of necessary education, vocational qualifications, and skills.

³⁴ State Committee on Statistics. 2016. Women and Men of Uzbekistan. tashkent.
³⁵ the State Committee on Statistics. 2017. Statistical Review of the Republic of Uzbekistan. January-September. p. 65.
³⁶ Ministry of Labor and employment. 2017. presentation at the annual Conference of the Women’s Committee. 14 december. tashkent. Uzbekistan.
³⁷ the State Committee on Statistics of the Republic of Uzbekistan. 2016. Women and Men of Uzbekistan. tashkent. Uzbekistan
³⁸ State Committee on Statistics. 2017. Gender Statistics of Uzbekistan. https://gender.stat.uz/ru/osnovnye-pokazateli
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12 Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment Update

another factor affecting women’s employment is their engagement in unpaid reproductive functions. In 2015, an adB-supported survey revealed that women in OeCd and non-OeCd countries spend as much time performing unpaid traditional reproductive tasks as men spend on productive, paid work.³⁹ the need to balance work with family and household obligations likely explains why more women work part-time or in the informal sector.

Informal work contributes significantly to the family budget, but it often leaves women without social protection. Women’s greater representation as informal or part-time employees/workers, very often with lower salaries and minimum social protection, makes them more vulnerable and lowers their status in the family because they contribute much less financially,⁴⁰ further

hindering their ability to influence allocations for day-to-day expenditures, larger purchases, and investments (e.g., in labor-saving devices, children’s schooling or self-education, SMe loans).⁴¹

³⁹ adB. 2015. Balancing the Burden: Desk Review of Women’s Time Poverty and Infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific. Manila. p. 7.
⁴⁰ V. tichenor. 1999. Status and Income as Gendered Resources: the Case of Marital power. Journal of Marriage and the Family 61 (3): 638–650.
⁴¹ adB. 2016. Uzbekistan: Housing for Integrated Rural Development Program. Social and Gender Survey. tashkent.
Crosscutting Gender Equality Issues 13

1.