Patriarchy Greatly Contributes to Workplace Gender Inequality: Minister

TheIndonesia.id - Minister of Manpower Ida Fauziyah has revealed that female labor force participation rate (LFPR) continues to be lower compared to its male counterpart and cited deep-rooted patriarchy as one of the main contributing factors behind the phenomenon.

According to Fauziyah, from 140 million labor force in Indonesia, only 40 percent of those are women.  

“[The figure] is the result of female labor force participation rate that’s still far lower than that of male," she said on Wednesday, January 19, as reported by Antara.

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), LFPR is “a measure of the proportion of a country’s working-age population that engages actively in the labor market, either by working or looking for work”. And as of August 2021, female and male LFPR in Indonesia were at 53.34 and 82.27 percent, respectively. The figure for female LFPR increased very slightly that year from 53.13 percent in 2020 and 51.81 percent in 2019.

Minister Fauziyah said the deep-rooted patriarchy in Indonesia contributes greatly the low percentage reported by the Ministry.

“The finding is pretty much related to patriarchal culture that’s still rooted, which identifies women with domestic work,” she said.

Besides wide gap between the male and female LFPR, Fauziyah also noted discrimination against women that continues to happen in the workplace, which is evidenced in the prevailing gender pay gap.

“Data shows that the average pay for female labor from every level of education and age group is far lower compared to male labor.”