Publication: Ten Thousand Steps in Her Shoes: The Role of Public Transport in Women’s Economic Empowerment
Loading...
Files
1,401 downloads
191 downloads
114 downloads
144 downloads
Published
2024-06-27
ISSN
Date
2024-06-27
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Women around the world face numerous mobility challenges. Public transport can provide many economic benefits that should be enjoyed equally by all users, regardless of gender or life circumstances. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, women have a higher university enrollment rate than men, yet their labor force participation rate remains low and stagnant. What is preventing them from translating their educational achievements into economic productivity? Is it a matter of personal preference or structural barriers, or is it both?
Although public transport systems can play a significant role in women’s participation in the labor force globally, this topic has been little explored in the MENA region. “Ten Thousand Steps in Her Shoes: The Role of Public Transport in Women’s Economic Empowerment” examines the role of public transport in women’s access to economic opportunities in urban MENA. The book studies the links among mobility, gender, and access to economic opportunities and focuses on three metropolitan areas—Amman, Jordan; Beirut, Lebanon; and Cairo, the Arab Republic of Egypt. Chapters focus on the availability of public transport close to households and employment centers, accessibility to job opportunities, affordability, social and cultural norms, and safety from crime and harassment. Data collected in 2022 reveal that a significant percentage of non-working women in urban MENA lack affordable, comfortable, safe, time-efficient, and reliable transport options, thus preventing them from seeking work. Women can contribute significantly to the economy.
Improving public transport and tailoring it to the needs of various communities can help women be economically active. In addition, providing flexible work arrangements that support balancing personal, family, and work lives; protecting women from gender-based discrimination; and offering high-quality childcare options near where people work or live are key. However, gender equity in transport use can be only partially accomplished through well-intentioned policy interventions. Public awareness and endorsement of the benefits of greater gender equality—within households, workplaces, and society at large—are also crucial to advancing women’s participation in the economy. The analysis and recommendations presented in this report will help policy makers in Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt design concrete actions, improve women’s mobility through public transport, and create an enabling environment to increase female economic participation.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Alam, Muneeza Mehmood; Bagnoli, Lisa. 2024. Ten Thousand Steps in Her Shoes: The Role of Public Transport in Women’s Economic Empowerment. Middle East and North Africa Development Report Series. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/41786 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Ten-thousand Steps in Her Shoes(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-11-20)SEE THE FORMALLY PUBLISHED VERSION OF THIS REPORT AT THE LINK PROVIDED BELOW. This report sheds light on public transport’s role in women’s access to economic opportunities in urban MENA. It examines the links among mobility, gender, and access to economic opportunities. It provides evidence of gender differences in mobility patterns and travel behavior, as well as the barriers and challenges women face when using public transport. It also assesses whether public transport systemdeficiencies constrain women’s economic participation. This report focuses on three metropolitan areas: Amman, Jordan; Beirut, Lebanon; and Cairo, Egypt. These cities were chosen for their contrasting size, context, and economic stability.Publication The ABCs of the Role of Public Transport in Women’s Economic Empowerment(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-04-13)There is increasing recognition that deficiencies in the public transport system impact men and women differently. While transport systems have been shown to play a significant role in women’s participation in the labor force globally, this topic has been little explored in the Middle East and North Africa. This paper examines the effect of the spatial accessibility, availability, and safety of public transportation on women’s labor market outcomes in three capital cities in the Middle East and North Africa—Amman in Jordan, Beirut in Lebanon, and Cairo in the Arab Republic of Egypt. The analysis uses three types of data collected for each city in 2022, namely, household mobility surveys, transit network data, and built environment audits. The paper investigates how the spatial accessibility of jobs in each city, the availability of public transportation close to residential locations, and the safety of public transit stops affect the labor force participation of women and their likelihood of employment. The main findings are that: (a) accessibility, availability, and safety appear to impact women’s labor force participation differentially in each city, and these impacts also vary by income level; and (b) although accessibility, availability, and safety appear to impact women’s labor force participation, they have overall little impact on women’s employment probability. The paper takes these two findings to imply that: (a) a one-size-fits-all-women solution is not appropriate when designing public transport systems; and (b) although public transport plays a critical role in improving women’s access to employment opportunities, complementary actions are needed to translate these gains into gainful employment.Publication Closing the Gap(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-03)There is increasing recognition that women experience mobility differently from men. A growing body of literature documents the differences in men and women’s mobility patterns. However, there is limited evidence on the evolution of these mobility patterns over time and the role that transportation networks play in women’s access to economic opportunities. This study attempts to fill these gaps. It contributes to the literature in two ways. First, it documents the differences in men and women’s mobility patterns in Mumbai, India, and the changes in these patterns over time, as the city has developed. Second, it explores whether the lack of access to mass transit limits women’s labor force participation. The study analyzes two household surveys conducted in the Greater Mumbai Region in 2004 and 2019. It finds important differences in the mobility patterns of men and women that reflect differences in the division of labor within the household. These differences in mobility patterns, and their evolution over time, point to an implicit “pink tax” on female mobility. Transport appears to be only one of many barriers to women’s labor force participation and not the most important one.Publication Is a Mile for One a Mile for All?(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022)The broad objectives of this study were to identify the following: (1) mobility differences globally between women and men (and by non-binary individuals, more broadly, where possible). This objective includes identifying and explaining heterogeneity in mobility needs and patterns in developed and developing countries (and intersectionality across gender, age, geographic location, ethnicity, disability, class and income, sexual identity, where possible), and documenting how these dimensions influence mobility choices and needs; (2) outcomes for women and men (and intersectionality across other gender identity, socioeconomic and demographic criteria, where possible) of mobility barriers and opportunities to access education, employment, health, social services, and leisure and recreation services. This objective includes identifying the differing effects and outcomes for women and men (and intersectionality across other gender identity, socioeconomic and demographic criteria, where possible) of transport investments and innovations; (3) policy lessons and future research needs for optimizing access to transport for women and other transport-disadvantaged groups.Publication Creating Pro-Poor Transport(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-10)Transport plays a crucial role in connecting people to goods and services and fostering sustainable development. The literature links improved transport infrastructure to economic growth and poverty reduction through five key mechanisms: (1) reducing transport and production costs, (2) creating jobs, (3) expanding productive capacity, (4) improving access to markets and basic services like health and education, and (5) reducing prices of final goods and services. These benefits depend on supportive conditions in other sectors, such as access to credit, functioning land markets, low trade barriers, and so on. Therefore, any assessment of potential gains from transport infrastructure and services should also account for the interaction with complementary markets. However, the analysis of such interactions, assessing how and when transport infrastructure can help reduce poverty and income inequality, is largely missing from the literature, leaving significant knowledge gaps across the spectrum of transportation settings. This note highlights existing findings and some limitations in the literature on three basic types of transport infrastructure: large projects such as regional or national highways and railroads; rural transport; and transport in urban areas.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Fixing the Foundation(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-20)Countries in middle-income East Asia and the Pacific were already experiencing serious learning deficits prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-related school disruptions have only made things worse. Learning poverty -- defined as the percentage of 10-year-olds who cannot read and understand an age-appropriate text -- is as high as 90 percent in several countries. Several large Southeast Asian countries consistently perform well below expectations on adolescent learning assessments. This report examines key factors affecting student learning in the region, with emphasis on the central role of teachers and teaching quality. It also analyzes the role education technologies, which came into widespread use during the pandemic, and examines the political economy of education reform. The report presents recommendations on how countries can strengthen teaching to improve learning and, in doing so, can enhance productivity, growth, and future development in the region.Publication Working Without Borders(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-07-24)Online gig work poses both opportunities and challenges for governments and workers. On the upside, it offers prospects for income generation, especially in developing countries, where most people work in low-productivity, low-quality, often informal jobs. The virtual and often temporary nature of gig work also provides flexibility for often neglected groups such as women, youth, migrants, and people with disabilities. These jobs could be a stepping-stone to bet¬ter-quality jobs for low-skilled workers by helping them learn critical digital skills and close the digital divide. But most gig jobs offer little to no protection for workers, with uncertain income streams and no clear career pathways. Depending on local labor regulations, many gig workers are not protected against unfair practices, abuse or injuries while working. Gig work also raises challenges for managing data security and privacy. The report examines how countries can navigate the promise and perils of online gig work. It reveals that the online gig workforce is much larger than previously assumed with an estimated 154 million to 435 million Online gig workers around the globe. For the first time ever, the report mapped and tracked regional platforms and gig workers who work in languages other than English. Key messages are: • Online gig work is expanding, accounting for up to 12% of the global labor force and is a growing source of income for millions. • Demand for online gig workers is rising faster in developing countries than in industrialized countries. • Local gig platforms play a vital role in the local labor market, but they face challenges in establishing a viable business model, and opportunities for long-term growth. • Online gig work can support inclusion by providing work opportunities for youth, women, and low-skilled workers. • Gig workers, like most other informal sector workers in developing countries, are often outside the purview of labor regulations. • The gig economy can offer opportunities locally to build digital skills, increase income-earning opportunities, and facilitate social protection coverage of informal workers.Publication Western Balkans 6 Country Climate and Development Report(Washington, DC: World Bank Group, 2024-07-16)This Regional Western Balkans Countries Climate and Development Report (CCDR) stands out in several ways. In a region that often lacks cohesive regional alliances, this report emphasizes how the challenges faced across countries are often common and interconnected, and, importantly, that climate action requires coordination on multiple fronts. Simultaneously, it illustrates the differences across countries, places, and people that require targeted strategies and interventions. This report demonstrates how shocks and stressors re intensifying and how investments in adaptation could bring significant benefits in the form of avoided losses, accelerated economic potential, and amplified social and economic spillovers. Given the region’s high emission and energy intensity and the limitations of its current fossil fuel-based development model, the report articulates a path to greener and more resilient growth, a path that is more consistent with the aspiration of accession to the EU. The report finds that the net zero transition can be undertaken without compromising the economic potential of the Western Balkans and that it could lead to higher growth than under the Reference Scenario (RS) with appropriate structural reforms.Publication Poverty, Prosperity, and Planet Report 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-15)The Poverty, Prosperity, and Planet Report 2024 is the latest edition of the series formerly known as Poverty and Shared Prosperity. The report emphasizes that reducing poverty and increasing shared prosperity must be achieved in ways that do not come at unacceptably high costs to the environment. The current “polycrisis”—where the multiple crises of slow economic growth, increased fragility, climate risks, and heightened uncertainty have come together at the same time—makes national development strategies and international cooperation difficult. Offering the first post-Coronavirus (COVID)-19 pandemic assessment of global progress on this interlinked agenda, the report finds that global poverty reduction has resumed but at a pace slower than before the COVID-19 crisis. Nearly 700 million people worldwide live in extreme poverty with less than US$2.15 per person per day. Progress has essentially plateaued amid lower economic growth and the impacts of COVID-19 and other crises. Today, extreme poverty is concentrated mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa and fragile settings. At a higher standard more typical of upper-middle-income countries—US$6.85 per person per day—almost one-half of the world is living in poverty. The report also provides evidence that the number of countries that have high levels of income inequality has declined considerably during the past two decades, but the pace of improvements in shared prosperity has slowed, and that inequality remains high in Latin America and the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa. Worldwide, people’s incomes today would need to increase fivefold on average to reach a minimum prosperity threshold of US$25 per person per day. Where there has been progress in poverty reduction and shared prosperity, there is evidence of an increasing ability of countries to manage natural hazards, but climate risks are significantly higher in the poorest settings. Nearly one in five people globally is at risk of experiencing welfare losses due to an extreme weather event from which they will struggle to recover. The interconnected issues of climate change and poverty call for a united and inclusive effort from the global community. Development cooperation stakeholders—from governments, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to communities and citizens acting locally in every corner of the globe—hold pivotal roles in promoting fair and sustainable transitions. By emphasizing strategies that yield multiple benefits and diligently monitoring and addressing trade-offs, we can strive toward a future that is prosperous, equitable, and resilient.Publication Middle Trade and Transport Corridor(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-11-26)The Middle Corridor (MC) is a multimodal transport corridor connecting China to Europe, which has been receiving elevated attention following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The MC links China, and Kazakhstan by rail through Dostyk or Khorgos/Altynkol, crosses Kazakhstan by rail to the Aktau Port, crosses the Caspian Sea to the Port of Baku/Alyat, and Azerbaijan and Georgia by rail to then either continue by rail to Europe through Türkiye or crossing the Black Sea. Due to inefficiencies and infrastructure gaps in Türkiye, the Black Sea route is currently preferred by operators. This report focuses on the route traversing Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia; a subsequent study will focus on Türkiye. The MC, with its numerous border crossings, transshipments between modes and operational inefficiencies, takes three times longer than the Northern route (via Russia) and is comparable in duration to the maritime route. As a result, it has consequently held a lower priority for long-distance trade.