Conducted in partnership with UN-Women and with the support of the French Development Agency (AFD) and the European Union (EU), this study indicates that the analysis by gender and age of the use of labour (UMO) to the evolution of the standard of living over the period from 2014 to 2019, The negative and decreasing contribution of female activity (all age groups combined) of -52% in 2014-2016 and -56.8% in 2017-2019, compared to a contribution of -26.1% + 39.3%, respectively, of male activity.
Indeed, with a rate of job creation insufficient to absorb the increase in the working age population in Morocco, whose population is now characterised by its extreme youth, the labour market is now faced with an increase in youth unemployment, expansion of the informal sector and widening gender disparities.
The study, entitled “Gender analysis of the contribution of labour force utilisation (LFU) to the improvement of living standards: Retrospective and prospective analysis in the light of the recommendations of the New Development Model (NMD)”, also points to an amplified contraction of the contribution of female LFU to the evolution of living standards in 2020 in a context of crisis linked to the pandemic.
In 2020, GDP per capita decreased by 7.1% compared to 2019. Women’s labour force participation and unemployment increased this GDP contraction by 30.3% and 8.5%, compared to 1.2% and 33.9% for men, taking into account the effects of the pandemic crisis, which accentuated the already fragile situation of women in the labour market.
Thus, the study reveals the constraining effects of female unemployment on GDP growth. Indeed, the deterioration in the unemployment rate of women, all age groups combined, had a negative impact on the evolution of GDP in health between 2014-2016 and 2017-2019.
The contribution of male unemployment remains positive and improving during the same periods, except for the 25-44 age group, whose contribution, although positive, has deteriorated slightly.
However, the study highlights positive, albeit decelerating, contributions of demography to the evolution of GDPH. The female population of working age contributes more than the male population to the growth of GDPH, with a total contribution of 10.6% against 6.7% for the male population.
Despite the difficulties facing the Moroccan labour market, the new government’s plans are likely to create more jobs in the hope of alleviating the socio-economic problems associated with a chronically rising national unemployment rate.
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