Do you know that Jamaican women have not really benefitted from regional integration into the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME)?
The CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) came into effect in January 2006 and within the member states (Jamaica, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago) this initiative allows for a greater degree of movement for goods, services and capital within this region. Citizens within the Caribbean Community can now establish business throughout the region. However, it has been argued that this agreement would have a modest impact with limited potential for further expansion. The case for this is based on some of the issues which is not adequately addressed as part of the CARICOM initiative. The problems relate to the following:
A. Small-scale traders are not included in the approved categories of migrant labour.
B. Only certain categories of ‘educated’ workers are allowed to move within CARICOM.
C. CSME could result in lower wages for men, thus narrowing the gender wage gap.
Small scale trading constitute a major portion of economic activity in this region mostly operated by women and exclusion of this category of workers from the approved list therefore leads to their informal functioning without adequate access to much needed credit and training. The emphasis is on educated workers in the region who can migrate for jobs. Further, it is pointed out that it is not clear as to what extent, if any, the wage gap between men and women will narrow as the CSME is not expected to result in dramatic changes in intra-regional trade. Since the CSME has the potential for different impacts on men and women, it becomes important to assess them.
Understanding that trade liberalisation does not eliminate the existing inequalities in the society the overall benefits that accrue are not always positive. This is so because of the effects that such trade agreements have on the most vulnerable population of the country. The gender implication associated with this is clear as women are generally among the most disadvantaged groups and in case of Jamaican economy an example of such negative benefit is seen. In the era of globalisation, as seen in other regions of the world, the priority of the CARICOM nations has been greater external market access and the process led to establishing a regional free-trade area. Jamaica’s integration into CARICOM and CSME has unfavourably affected the economic and social welfare of poor women and studies indicate that one of the reasons for this is the nature of employment opportunities created by the new trade agreements. First, through such agreements mobility of specific categories of skilled workers are enhanced, while the unskilled small-scale traders remain excluded and 40% of this economic group are women in this region. Second, it has been pointed out that such kind of integration allows non-discriminatory access to capital and physical infrastructure for the business community within the CSME without any provision for workers development. Finally, the direct impact of such trade agreements has been the removal of protective measures from the sectors with high concentration of female workers and extension of trade preferences to Central American countries where the labour costs are lower and with more competitive exchange rates which led to industrial relocation out of Jamaica. It had a serious impact on the labour-intensive manufacturing sector and in the service sector as well. Employment in the free trade zones also were affected and the case of Digiport export processing zone shows the impact of NAFTA whereby the multinational were encouraged to shift their operations from Jamaican free trade zones to those of other countries. Its impact was sharp in case of female headed households where the consumption fell as women lost their jobs. In the agricultural sector too, due to increased international competition poverty worsened among women producers in the dairy and poultry sector.
Thus, it can be said that CARICOM trade liberalisation has failed to benefit the women in Jamaica specially those who are unskilled whether in the new or traditional economic activities. Further, as the impact of CSME is different between men and women it becomes essential to monitor the same. The problems that come in the way of monitoring these impacts include the absence of sex disaggregated data for free movement of persons within the CSME or on the role of gender in the Caribbean economy. However, certain indicators to monitor the impact on gender have been developed on the basis of intra-CARICOM labour flows, intra-regional exports in the male and female dominated sectors and the proportion of women accessing training in the region. Studies indicate that more Carribean women are engaged in economic activity than women in Central and South America. In 2000, 60 percent of women employed in the Caribbean worked in the service sector compared with 50 percent of employed men. However, available data in selected countries for 1991 shows that more women earn at the lower end of the scale compared to men. in general, women’s hourly earnings do not equal that of men in any other sectors, except for health and social work, where women earn about 30 percent more than men on a monthly basis, and 36 percent more per hour (CARICOM Secretariat, CARICOM Secretariat: Women and Men in the Caribbean Community, 2003).
Among the economically active population, women in Caribbean society have a higher unemployment rate and are unemployed for longer periods when compared to their male counterparts. However, more women than men received training in the Caribbean. Currently, youth at risk is one of the most pressing concerns for the CARICOM governments, civil society organizations, and the international community. Young people are at risk when they face environmental, social and family condition that interferes with their personal development and with their successful integration into society as productive citizens.
Thus, the importance of assessment of the impact of the CSME on women and men cannot be exaggerated. Data by gender in the Caribbean needs to be collected more frequently and regular labour force surveys should be conducted in 15 CARICOM countries to monitor the progress.
Source: http://www.focal.ca/pdf/CSME.pdf and http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/ciem2d3_en.pdf
