In pandemic-era Philippines, women, youth bore brunt of job losses — ADB

MANILA, Philippines — The Filipino youth and women endured much of job losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic in the Philippines, a new report from the Asian Development Bank revealed.

As it is, the country’s workforce, where millions were left unemployed as a result of the economic downturn from the pandemic, has yet to recoup its losses.

In the report released on Thursday, the Manila-based lender noted the extent to which these vulnerable sectors bore the brunt of job losses in the Southeast Asian region, which was most visible in the workforce of Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

“Despite unprecedented government responses, COVID-19 has exposed significant social protection gaps associated with high and persistent informality across the region,” said Ramesh Subramaniam, ADB director general for Southeast Asia.

“As recovery takes hold, the focus of fiscal policy can shift more strongly from relief to stimulus, and from stimulus to structural investments that will promote sustained and inclusive growth,” he added.

The damage on the domestic labor market has been far-reaching: Filipino laborers aged 15-24 comprised 22-28% of those unemployed in the second quarter of 2020, representing only 10-19% of total employment in the final quarter of 2019.

Likewise, the ADB found women were disproportionately affected, as many shouldered the burden of childcare and housekeeping amid the health crisis.

“The massive labor force exits among women are largely a consequence of their greater involvement in the care burden (such as childcare and homeschooling and caring for ill relatives), as has been observed across the world. This was true for all age cohorts in the Philippines and nearly all cohorts in the other countries,” the ADB said in its report.

Employed Filipino women suffered one of its worst setbacks in recent years as they accounted for 44% of jobs losses in the second quarter of 2020, higher than 38-39% share in 2019, or before the pandemic hit.

 “Among the sample countries, the Philippines was the most affected in 2020 in terms of health outcomes (COVID-19 cases) and also in economic and labor market impacts,” the ADB said.

Filipino women working as sales and service workers, making up 60% of the workforce, accounted for the 73% decline in employment in this sector in the second quarter of 2020, the onset of the pandemic.

The ADB said the Philippines — when compared to Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia — displaced the highest number of its workforce amid the pandemic, wherein 52% became unemployed within the domestic economy.

Unemployment in the Philippines currently stood at 7.4% in October. In 2020, unemployment rate hit a record-high 10.3%.