Rabat — The World Bank has identified Morocco’s struggling job market and low female workforce participation as critical obstacles that block the country from raising living standards, according to a new economic report released for the Middle East and North Africa region.
The report, titled “Work and Women: Untapped Talent and Unrealized Growth,” warns that Morocco faces major employment challenges. Job creation continues to lag behind the country’s expanding working-age population, creating a widening gap between workers and available positions.
The situation has worsened in recent years, as droughts have devastated rural employment, while unemployment rates remain high — especially among youth and women. At the same time, fewer people are participating in the labor market at all.
Morocco mirrors regional trends
Morocco shares a troubling pattern with Egypt, Iran, and Jordan, where women’s workforce participation has either stagnated or declined. The UN report noted that even highly educated women exhibit flat or declining participation rates, and that younger generations are less likely to work than older ones.
“The data reveals a concerning reality,” the World Bank said, adding that women’s workforce participation across the region remains the lowest, regardless of a country’s income level, whether in urban or rural areas, with significant gaps compared to countries with similar incomes.
Multiple barriers keep women out of work
The report examined various obstacles that limit women’s economic participation, including family circumstances, social norms, legal frameworks, and the private sector’s slow response to change.
The World Bank issued clear recommendations, urging Morocco to adopt structural reforms that encourage formal economic activity, stimulate high-growth businesses that create jobs, modernize social legislation, and support women’s employment.
Solutions focus on childcare and transportation
The report stressed that expanding safe transportation and affordable childcare services remains critically important. In contexts where social norms discourage the use of formal childcare, legal reforms could increase acceptance of these services and help women enter the workforce.
Investments that improve safety and reliability and expand public transportation can broaden job opportunities for women and help them stay employed longer. Infrastructure supporting safety and security — such as better street lighting — can strengthen these gains.
Market competition could reduce discrimination
The World Bank argued that improving market competition by leveling the playing field between state-owned and private companies could increase competitive pressure and raise the cost of discriminatory hiring.
Encouraging women to take management positions and start businesses could create significant ripple effects, the World Bank said, explaining that woman-led companies always show a greater tendency to hire women and reshape workplace culture.
The cost of inaction
“The region can no longer afford to keep half its talents idle and unexploited,” the report concluded, “especially since increasing women’s labor market participation forms a pivotal element for achieving growth and strengthening resilience against looming demographic transformations.”
The evidence clearly shows that the biggest gains come through comprehensive, integrated reforms that enhance private sector employment opportunities, remove legal and normative imbalances related to customs and traditions, and reduce barriers related to both mobility and childcare responsibilities and burdens.
