Filipino women becoming major economic force — poll

Filipino women are becoming a major force in the economy with the proportion of women to men in terms of labor force participation rate increasing from 62.08 percent in 2009 to 62.16 percent this year, based on the findings from the latest MasterCard Worldwide Index of Women’s Advancement.

The survey also showed compared to last year, a greater proportion of women to men now perceive themselves to be earning above median income or 75.71 women per 100 men this year vs. 41.78 women per 100 men in 2009.

“There has been a major increase in indicator score when it came to women seeing themselves in a managerial role — from 64.85 in 2009 to 88.82 this year,” according to the survey.

Women across the Asia-Pacific are also feeling slightly more empowered, the survey said.

In particular, a slightly higher proportion of women perceive themselves to be earning above median income — 80 women per 100 men across the region compared to 75 women per 100 men in 2009.

The pan-regional Index score has seen a slight increase from last year, coming in at 85.57 this year from 84.47 in 2009. Seven of the 14 Asia-Pacific markets are witnessing a rise in their scores. Mirroring the increase in the regional score, the Philippines is also seeing an increase in its Index score, from 72.04 in 2009 to 86.15 this year.

The research also shows more women seeing themselves as making most of the major financial decisions in their households.

This is seen in 11 of the 14 Asia-Pacific markets surveyed. In particular, Australia (+35 percentage points), Hong Kong (+31.7 percentage points) and Malaysia (+30.5 percentage points) boast the greatest increase in the percentage of women who perceive themselves as controlling the household’s purse strings compared to last year.

In contrast, the proportion of men who see themselves as the main household financial decision maker has dropped in Vietnam (-15.8 percentage points) compared to last year. –Daily Tribune