Educational attainment and economic participation in Palestinian women living in Lebanon: analysis of data from the Labour Force Survey among Palestinian refugees

Abstract

BackgroundIn Arab societies, women have made advances in educational attainment but continue to show very low rates of economic participation. This occurrence has been labelled the sex-education-work paradox. We aimed to explore this paradox among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and assessed wage differences between Palestinian men and women at every educational level. MethodsWe used data from the most recent International Labour Organizations' Labour Force Survey of Palestinians in Lebanon (2012). The survey was implemented in all Palestinian refugee camps and gatherings across Lebanon, yielding a sample size of 2600 households and 7212 individuals. We tested sex differences in education, work, and wages using bivariate and multivariate methods, using SPSS version 18. FindingsWe included data for 2020 employed men and 444 employed women in this study. Although Palestinian women had a better educational profile than did Palestinian men, they had a very low rate of economic participation (15% overall, and 10% in married women). Employed Palestinian women had an advantage to men with respect to occupational status (29% were professionals and managers compared with 8% men) and job security (73% women earned monthly wages compared with 37% men), but earned lower wages than men at every educational level. Average sex wage differences increased gradually with increasing education, ranging from US$94·6 for primary education (0–6 years), to $132·6 for complementary education (6–9 years), to $198 for those with a secondary education (9–12 years). The results of linear regression analysis showed, after adjusting for age, education, and occupation, that women earned significantly lower wages than men (β=137; p<0·0001). InterpretationThe results accord with the persistence of the sex-education-work paradox among Palestinians in Lebanon. The findings also show a sex-wage paradox, whereby, with increasing education, women earn lower wages than men do. Palestinian women are doubly disadvantaged in Lebanon: discriminatory policies that negatively affect all Palestinian workers (eg, barring them from working in more than 60 managerial and professional jobs) intersected with sex social and cultural norms to exert a cumulative effect on their economic wellbeing. FundingInternational Labour Organization, the European Union.