Moroccan Women Are Still Left Behind in Job Market

Rabat – Low opportunities and a high demand for low-skilled labor continue to negatively affect women’s employment in Morocco, the Democratic Association of Moroccan Women (ADFM) said on Sunday.

Citing recent figures from Morocco’s High Commission for Planning (HCP), ADFM noted that over 33% of higher education graduates face the same difficulties to integrate the labor market.

HCP’s latest report showed that 8 out of 10 women in the country remain outside the labor market, with 73.7% of them working as housewives.

Meanwhile, the ADFM highlighted that the wage gap between women and men remains significant (30%), while only 64% of women workers are paid, against 91% of men.

Women make 30% less than their male peers and record lower productivity overall but the wage gap is much more significant in the industrial sector, where women have 45% lower productivity than average.

While Morocco has made a number of legal and political reforms to advance women’s rights, the ADFM said there is a “decline in women’s access to administrative and economic decision-making positions.”

As Morocco seeks to achieve democracy, human rights, and the sustainable development goals (SDGs), the NGO insists that “equality between women and men is a major gateway and a prerequisite for sustainable development.”

In recent years, Morocco has strengthened its gender equality-related institutional framework by developing programs and adopting policies to boost gender equality and women’s rights.

Aziz Akhannouch’s government welcomed seven women ministers, making a third of the government’s representatives.

Women’s participation in the government testifies to Morocco’s efforts to promote female visibility in the public sphere and improve women’s lives.

In April, Morocco’s Ministry of Tourism, Handicrafts and Social, and Solidarity Economy signed an agreement with the Office for the Development of Cooperation (ODCO) and the We4She Association to promote female economic inclusion.

But more progress is still needed to empower women while upholding their political, social, and economic rights by fighting against all forms of gender-based violence and discrimination to reach gender parity.