South Korean Women's Employment Status
More than one-third of the working population in South Korea work longer hours and get lower pay. This simple «minority» are as expected, women.
A report from the Korean Development Institute (KDI) stated that in 1982 women workers had an average pay of 44% that of the men workers. The report stated that 40% of the women workers earned less than 100,(K)0 won (South Korean currency) per month while for men workers the figure was only 6.1%. On top of this, the 5,7O3,(K)0 women workers worked longer hours, an average of 238 hours per month compared with 229 hours for men. Results of a survey of the Korean Employers' Federation (KEF) revealed that the average wage for women high school graduates was just 51% that of men and that women, on the average, retire ten years earlier than men.
Information from:
Asian Labour Monitor. Asian Monitor Resources Center, 444 Nathan Road. 8-B Kowloon. Hong Kong. vol. 1. No. 4. December, 1984.
Role of Women Workers in China
The All-China Women's Federation plans to relieve women from heavy manual tasks such as loading and construction which has been observed to be unsuited to women. One survey showed that women spend on the average 5.2 hours per day on family duties, while men spend only 3.9 hours. The Federation said that women are very often burdened with excessive work.
Currently, of China's workforce, 36.5% or 42 million, are women, comprising 32.8% of China's total scientific and technical personnel, 40% of all electronics workers, and 26.2% of college students.
Information from:
Asian Labour Monitor. Asia Monitor Resource Center, 444 Nathan Road, 8-B Kowloon. Hong Kong. Vol. 1, No. 4, December, 1984.
Count Women's Work
The International Wages for Housework Campaign and International Black Women for Wages for Housework are calling an international petition to urge every government to implement Resolution 103 of the 1980 draft Plan of Action of the UN Decade for Women.
Resolution 103 asks every government to:
« Redefine, where appropriate, the term 'worker' in accordance with the ILO (International Labour Organization) standard definition of labour force participation, in order that the contribution of the unpaid work that women do in the farms, at home and in other fields can be recognised and reflected in the Gross National Product ».
For more information, contact:
International Wages for Housework Campaign and International Black Women for Wages for Housework, King's Cross Women's Centre, 71 Tonbridge Street, London WCl, England, U.K.
Japanese Women Say «WAIT» to the Newly Drafted Employment Laws
Women's groups in Japan are attacking the draft of the Equal Employment Law which, if passed, will take effect on 1 April 1986. 353 women lawyers have filed a petition emphasising that discrimination must be out in all stages of employment and that non-maternity protective provision should remain until working hours and conditions are improved. The new laws are intended to redress the present harsh discriminatory laws which restrict women from doing overtime work making the average pay for women only 53.3% that of their male counterparts. The ILO reports that women in manufacturing receive only 43.3% of wages earned by male workers. And, of the 1500 firms listed on the stock exchange in Tokyo 1050 do not allow women to take job aptitude tests.
Amongst other proposals, the new law sets out to «urge>> employers to train female staff on the same terms as men and to remove existing bans on overtime work but only for women specialists and female managerial staff.
Information from:
Asia Labour Monitor, Vol. 1, no. 2, 1984