In first district Carcar home to most unemployed women

CEBU, Philippines -  Carcar City is home to most number of jobless women in the entire first district of Cebu, data from the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction revealed.

NHTS-PR is an information management system of the Department of Social Welfare and Development-7.

Based on the data, Carcar City hosts 6,389 women who still do not have any means of livelihood.

Cebu's first district covers Talisay City, Minglanilla, City of Naga, San Fernando, Carcar City and Sibonga.

Sibonga town ranks second with 4,317 jobless women, followed by Naga City with 3,710 ; San Fernando, 3,030; Talisay City, 2,818; and Minglanilla, 2,259.

NHTS-PR data also showed the women sector constitutes 901,716 or 48 percent of the poor households in Central Visayas.

More than half of these women are under 18 years old and are mostly from rural areas.

"Despite being a major player in the development of the country, most women in the region still have no decent means to earn a living or engage in livelihood activities," the DSWD-7 report said.

It added that in the countryside, women help their husbands in farming and fishing. Others perform menial jobs such as laborers, unskilled workers and shop or market sales workers.

The regional data further said from the 45 percent poor women aged 18-59, 23 percent or 8,852 of them were not able to finish or complete education in any grade levels while 51.9 percent or 202,557 were able to finish primary schools.

Only 43.2 percent or 168,466 just finished high school or secondary level.

DSWD-7 urged legislators, local government units and non-government organizations to use the available data to formulate appropriate social protection programs and services, specifically to address the welfare of this sector.  (FREEMAN)