Date: Sat, 7 Oct 1995 22:13:40 -0600 To: From: "Richard Cincotta" Subject: EWCPOP REPORT / Situation of Women in Asia Forwarded to: Internet[ppn@csf.colorado.edu] cc: Comments by: Richard Cincotta@G.PHN.POP@AIDW -------------------------- [Original Message] ------------------------- A S I A - P A C I F I C P O P U L A T I O N R E S E A R C H A B S T R A C T S Number 6, September 1995 IS THE SITUATION OF WOMEN IN ASIA IMPROVING OR DETERIORATING? Karen Oppenheim Mason with the assistance of Amy Cardamone, Jill Holdren, and Leah Retherford KEY WORDS age at marriage sociocultural norms India Singapore economic development son preference Indonesia South Korea education unpaid labor Japan Sri Lanka employment violence against women Malaysia Taiwan family systems Bangladesh Nepal Thailand literacy China Pakistan political participation Hong Kong Philippines Observers disagree about the impact of economic development on women's situation under various historical conditions. One group argues that development enhances the status of women by improving their access to resources, increasing their autonomy and power, and benefiting their general well-being. An opposing viewpoint is that any apparent advances in women's situation under development are illusory or offset by a deterioration in other aspects of women's status. Proponents of this view cite women's lack of political power, legal barriers to full social and economic participation, differences between men and women in occupational status and pay levels, a loss of control over agricultural resources, and high levels of violence against women in economically advanced societies. Using several indicators of status, this Research Report assesses women's situation, especially in relation to men, in a variety of economic and cultural settings found within Asia. Where possible, it describes how their situation has changed during the last three to four decades and notes whether any tendency toward improvement of degradation can be observed according to a society's development level. In East and South Asia, patriarchal family systems that emphasize the male line of descent have historically given women little autonomy or power. In Southeast Asia, where there is a more equal emphasis on male and female lines of descent and the conjugal unit has greater importance, women have been treated more equally. These cultural differences, combined with varying degrees of economic development, have produced very different situations for women within individual subregions and countries. Three indicators of women's access to the means of obtaining desirable outcomes in their lives include education and literacy levels, employment status and occupation, and women's age at marriage. Two key indicators of whether women have actually achieved desirable outcomes include their health and longevity and, as an indicator of the value of males versus females in a society, women's sex preferences for children. The evidence reviewed in this report indicates that despite economic development, a society's sociocultural traditions can have an enduring impact onwomen's situation. Nevertheless, economic development does appear to improve their status overall by encouraging or enabling the educational advancement of females, the movement of women, and improvements in women's health and life expectancy. With these changes have come new problems for women, such as the feminization of the aged with longer female life expectancy. In most parts of Asia, however, women today appear to be better off than their counterparts of 20-30 years ago, and their situation has improved in relation to that of men. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE SERIES Asia-Pacific Population Research Abstracts are based on Asia-Pacific Population Research Reports, which provide an informative discussion ofresearch on important population issues facing the Asia-Pacific region. Published several times a year with support from the Office of Population, U.S. Agency for International Development, Research Reports are intended for social and health scientists, policymakers, program managers, and the interested public. Series editor: Sandra E. Ward THE AUTHORS Karen Oppenheim Mason is a senior fellow in the Program on Population of the East-West Center and an affiliate graduate faculty in sociology at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. Her recent research has concentrated on gender issues and demographic change and on changes in the family. Amy Cardamone, Jill Holdren, and Leah Retherford were research assistantsin the Program on Population when this report was prepared. PUBLICATION FACTS Is the situation of women in Asia improving or deteriorating? Asia-Pacific Population Research Reports, No. 6 September 1995, 20 pp. ISSN 1079-0284 TO REQUEST A COPY: East-West Center Publication Sales Office 1777 East-West RoadHonolulu, HI 96848 U.S.A. E-mail: EWCBOOKS@EWC.BITNET Telephone: (808) 944-7145 Fax: (808) 944-7376 ALSO AVAILABLE IN THIS SERIES No. 1, Asia's recent fertility decline and prospects for future demographic changes, by Ronald Freedman. January 1995. No. 2, Scenarios for the AIDS epidemic in Asia, by James Chin. February 1995. No. 3, How Japan and the newly industrialized economies of Asia are responding to labor scarcity, by John G. Bauer. March 1995. No. 4, Aging in Asia: Setting the research foundation, by Albert I. Hermalin. April 1995. No. 5, What can we say about fertility trends in Bangladesh? An evaluation of the 1991 population census, by Andrew Kantner, Charles Lerman, and Mohammed Yusuf. June 1995. FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE EAST-WEST CENTER'S POPULATION ACTIVITIES: East-West CenterProgram on Population 1777 East-West Road Honolulu, HI 96848 U.S.A.E-mail: POP@EWC.BITNET Telephone: (808) 944-7471 Fax: (808) 944-7490