PHL improves score in WBL index

By Cai Ordinario, Businessmirror, 16 Jan 2020

The extended duration of paid maternity leave approved by the government allowed the Philippines to register a slight improvement in its score in the 2020 edition of the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law (WBL) index.

The country scored 81.3 this year, slightly higher than the 81.25 last year. The Philippines placed third out of the 10 Asean countries and 23rd in the global index.

In the Asean, Lao PDR scored the highest at 88.1, followed by Singapore with 82.5. In the global index, the Philippines had the same score as The Bahamas, Puerto Rico and Zambia.

“Legal rights for women are both the right thing to do and good from an economic perspective. When women can move more freely, work outside the home and manage assets, they are more likely to join the work force and help strengthen their country’s economies,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass.

“We stand ready to help until every woman can move through her life without facing legal barriers to her success,” Malpass added.

The country’s performance was scored based on eight indicators—mobility, workplace, pay, marriage, parenthood, entrepreneurship, assets and pension.

Mobility examined constraints to women’s freedom of movement while workplace analyzed the laws affecting women’s decisions to enter and remain in the labor force.

The indicator on pay measured laws and regulations regarding job restrictions and the gender wage gap; legal constraints in marriage; and parenthood evaluated laws affecting women’s work after having children.

Other indicators such as entrepreneurship examined constraints faced by women when starting and running their own business assets, gender differences in property and inheritance law; and the size of women’s pension.

The Philippines scored the highest in workplace, pay, and entrepreneurship with a score of 100. The country scored 80 out of 100 in parenthood; 75 in mobility and pension; and 60 in marriage and assets.

The country’s primary reform was to extend the duration of paid maternity leave to 105 days from 60 days approved by President Duterte in May 2019.

This reform fell under parenthood where majority of countries in the index implemented their reforms. Apart from the Philippines, countries like Canada, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the United States, among others, made reforms in this indicator.

“Reforms are urgently needed in the area of Parenthood, which scored just 53.9 on average. In almost half of economies that provide any form of paid maternity leave, the burden falls on the employer, making it more costly to hire women,” the World Bank said in a statement.

“But paid maternity leave can help to retain female employees, reducing turnover cost and improving productivity. These longer-term benefits often outweigh the short-term costs to employers, according to the study,” it added.

The WBL index measures only formal laws and the regulations which govern a woman’s ability to work or own businesses—a country’s actual norms and practices are not captured. The global average score was 75.2 out of 100.

Women Business and the Law 2020 included 190 economies, tracked how laws affect women at different stages in their working lives and focused on those laws applicable in the main business city.

It covered reforms in eight areas that are associated with women’s economic empowerment, conducted from June 2017 to September 2019.

The World Bank said achieving legal gender equality requires strong political will and a concerted effort by governments, civil society, and international organizations, among others.

Legal and regulatory reforms can serve as an important catalyst to improve the lives of women, as well as their families and communities, it added.

“This study helps us understand where laws facilitate or hinder women’s economic participation. It has incentivized countries to undertake reforms that can eliminate gender imbalances,” said World Bank Group Chief Economist Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg.

“Achieving equality will take time, but it is encouraging that all regions have improved. We hope that this research will continue to serve as an important tool to inform policy-making and level the playing field for women,” Goldberg added.