Men account for 60.3% of total workers – labour force survey

…despite more women being of working age than men

Despite the reports indicating that there are more women who are of the working age than men, the Guyana Labour Force Survey (GLFS) has found that men account for 60.3 per cent of all workers.

This is according to the GLFS 2021 first quarter report, which noted that the rate of men employed effectively reversed the fact that working age women outnumber men. According to the survey, women were found to account for 38.7 per cent when it comes to participation in the labour force.
The participation rate in urban areas was also skewed. For instance, men were found in the report to account for 53.2 per cent of participation in the labour force in urban areas and 50.3 per cent in rural.
When it comes to youths, the report also found that in the first quarter of the year, 35.9 per cent of youth between the ages of 15 to 24 were not gainfully employed. They were not taking part in education, employment or training.
Generally, the employment-to-population ratio was found to be 43.2 per cent. Again, the statistics were skewed in the context of gender, with the ratio of employed men to population 56.3 per cent and women at 31.3 per cent. The overall unemployment rate for the first quarter of the year was 15.6 per cent.
While this is higher than previous years, Guyana also had to deal with the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This slowdown was particularly evident in the non-oil economy.
Many Guyanese have felt the effects of COVID-19 on an economic level, with businesses closing their doors, layoffs and a slowdown in the circulation of money. This was compounded by the political paralysis Guyana found itself in from the elections in March 2020 until President Dr Irfaan Ali was sworn in on August 2 last year, as the previous Government refused to concede defeat.
When COVID first arrived in Guyana earlier this year, the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government had taken steps ranging from closing its borders to mandating that only essential businesses open their doors.
During its five-month extension in office, the former Government did not provide any economic stimulus for the remaining businesses which remained open. Guyana did not have a budget since the last one was passed in November of 2018, until September 2020 when the PPP passed its emergency budget.
The first quarter of 2020 had pegged youth unemployment at a rate of 30.2 per cent.
This was according to a Bureau of Statistics report. According to published data, the overall unemployment rate within the reporting period was 12.8 per cent. Meanwhile, in rural communities, there was a higher unemployment rate among women.
“The rural unemployed population represents the vast majority of the total unemployed for the first quarter of 2020 and the unemployment rate for women appears to be higher than that for men. The rural unemployed population represents the vast majority of the total unemployed for the first quarter of 2020 and the unemployment rate for women appears to be higher than that for men,” the Bureau highlighted. (G3)