A Statistical Portrait from a Gender Perspective Mrs. Manal Sweidan - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Migration in Jordan A Statistical Portrait from a Gender Perspective

• Mrs. Manal Sweidan

Head of Gender Statistics Division Department of Statistics, Jordan Email: manal@dos.gov.jo; manal.sweidan@hotmail.com

Seventh Global Forum on Gender Statistics Government of Japan and United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) Tokyo, Japan, 14 to 16 November 2018

Migration in Jordan, a Statistical Portrait

Jordan is considered to be one of the top 10 countries of destination for migrants from Arab countries

Sourcehttp://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/ migration/data/estimates2/index.shtml (accessed 30 January 2015).

Number of Migrants

Migration in Jordan, a Statistical Portrait..cont

Jordan is a major migrant-receiving country

8 31 19

5 10 15 20 25 30 35

2004 2015 Average annual growth rate (2004-2015)

% of migrants

• ut of the

total population

Demographic Characteristics of Migrants, 2015

A higher percentage

• f males in

comparison to females in age groups 20-49 and it is more obvious in the 25-29 age group, which is within the range of the legally allowed working ages

Migrant Population by Region & Sex, 2015

52 82 40 48 18 60 70.7 22.6 6.8 Arab Asian Countries Arab African Countries Other Countries Male Female % of the total migrant population

Regional political instability in the countries nearby formed the migration picture in Jordan

Migrants by Country of Citizenship & Sex, 2015

Regional political instability in the countries nearby formed the migration picture in Jordan

Female Migrants as Heads of Households by Age Group, 2015

2.7 8.9 13.6 14.5 13.7 11.3 9.5 7.3 5.9 4.0 8.6

15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65+

Female

16% of migrant households are headed by females compared to only 11.6% among the Jordanian households

Educational Characteristics of Males by Nationality

6 8 34 26 7 20 17 15 35 14 10 9

Illiterate Read and write Less than high school High school level Diploma Bachelors degree and above

Male Jordanian Male Migrants

Jordanian males have higher percent of high school level & higher education compared to migrants. There is a higher percentage of illiteracy among migrant males compared to male Jordanians.

Educational Characteristics of Females by Nationality… cont

The same pattern exists among the female population in Jordan.

11 8 26 24 11 20 17 14 38 15 6 11

Illiterate Read and write Less than high school High school level Diploma Bachelors degree and above

Female Jordanian Female Migrants

Reasons of Migration to Jordan, 2015

Insecurity and armed conflict in the migrants origin countries was the main reason for leaving their countries

3.2 6.6 16.6 19.2 54.3 4.4 10.5 12 12.4 60.6 3.5 7.1 15.9 18.3 55.1

Study & Medication & Tourism Others Accompanying Work Insecurity/ Armed Conflict in Country of Origin Total Female Male Study

Patterns of Migration in Jordan

Labor migration 18% Forced migration 56% Other flows, like dependents study 26%

Forced Migration

Among the 56% migrants who said they came to Jordan as result of the armed conflicts, 86% consider themselves Refugees, 10% considered as non-refugees while the remaining 4% don't know

Forced Migration in Jordan

Refugees 86% Non-refugees 10% Don't Know 4%

Demographic Characteristics of Refugees

50.6 49.4 Male Female The distribution of the 86 percent of those who considered themselves as refugees, shows almost an equal distribution of refugees in relation to their gender.

Demographic Characteristics of Refugees ..cont

The number of women is slightly higher than men in certain age groups

Demographic Characteristics of Refugees ..cont

• Four in five refugees in Jordan are Syrians
• 77% have arrived to Jordan in the last 1 to 5 years (prior to 2016).
• More than 68% of the refugees, do not have health insurance
• 15% of refugees are illiterate, most of them are females.
• 65% have less than high school education with no gender

differentials.

• Refugees work in retail, wholesale, restaurants, construction where

little education is required and where most can be employed without a work permit due to lower costs on business owners and liability.

Labor Migration

Economic Status of Jordan's Population by Nationality & Sex

33 79 67 20 26 83 74 17

Male Female Male Female Economically Inactive Economically Active

Jordanian Migrant

Employment Status of Jordan's Population by Nationality & Sex

Among males, there is very little difference in the percentage

• f employed Jordanians & migrants. For females, there is a

higher percentage of employed migrants compared to employed Jordanians.

87 64 13 36 90 76 10 24 Male Female Male Female Employed Unemployed Jordanian Migrant

Labor Migration with Work Permits by Nationality

• Three

in four migrants labor permit holders are men (75%), the majority are Egyptian (67%).

• Female labor permit holders accounted for

24 percent, the bulk came from Bangladesh (49%).

Labor Migration with Work Permits by Type of Work

• Male migrants are mostly employed at agriculture,

construction, and manufacturing services

• Females dominated household domestic work
• However, a large number of domestic workers may be

undocumented - either because they entered illegally, have overstayed or have failed to inform the Immigration Directorate about change of employers - means that this is a sector where the estimates are unlikely to be inaccurate.

• Household employment or domestic work is a major

source of employment for both documented and undocumented female migrant workers.

A Glance at the Impact of Syrians in the Jordanian labor Market..cont

• Syrians comprise only 12% of the total number of

migrant workers holding work permits (15% males of total males holding work permits, and 3% females of total females holding work permits

• Estimates of informal Syrian workers range between

42,000 and 150,000 (World Bank), and 160,000 to 200,000 (Jordan’s Ministry of Labor, 2015).

• Syrians allegedly working without permits were said to be

in the construction, retail and wholesale stores, restaurants, services and agriculture sectors.

A Glance at the Impact of Syrians in the Jordanian Labor Market..cont

Challenges resulted from the presence of Syrians in the Jordanian labor market were the following:

• 1. Unlike other migrant workers, Syrians have

their families with them and are unable to work under some of the conditions feasible for migrant workers who come to Jordan alone (like Egyptian).

• 2. Social tensions have emerged as the increased

labor supply appears to have suppressed wages.

A Glance at the Impact of Syrians in the Jordanian Labor Market.. cont

Despite these challenges, new opportunities have emerged.

• 1. Whereas migrant workers send the bulk of their

wages back home as remittances, Syrian wages are spent inside Jordan.

• 2. Recruitment costs can be dramatically reduced

because Syrians are already in the country.

• 3. Despite generally low levels of education, many

Syrians have strong entrepreneurial skills as well as skills in trades.

• 4. Syrians living in camps are available to work,

including in nearby manufacturing zones.

Conclusion

• This working paper show that women are present in all

migratory flows, however a closer inspection of each channel of entry reveals very different proportions of men and women.

• Whilst women have formed an increasing proportion of

all labour migration, some sectors are heavily female dominated and with fewer social and economic rights attached like the domestic and household sector.

• Family-related migration (formation and reunion),

although the dominant category of settlement, is also highly feminized has hardly received any attention.

Conclusion.. cont

• The evidence presented in this paper suggests not
• nly that the proportion of women in all

migration flows is increasing, but that their modes

• f entry are increasingly complex and diversified.
• This paper highlights the available statistical data
• n migration for a better understanding of

gendered migrations and policy making; to understand the changing nature of contemporary gendered migrations.

Thank you for listening

Women count. It’s time to count them and count them in.

Katja Iversen, President / CEO Women Deliver

• Mrs. Manal Sweidan

Head of Gender Statistics Division Department of Statistics, Jordan Email: manal@dos.gov.jo; manal.sweidan@hotmail.com