An International Perspective of Privatization and Women Workers

Abstract

Authors provide a comparative international perspective of the relationship of privatization and women in the context of the work force. The methodology is a synthesis and critical evaluation of the impact of privatization on women from an international perspective utilizing a comparative analysis of international case studies and survey data from prominent scholars and international agencies and research firms to explain the adverse effects on women of privatization of the work force. Comparative data on women in the work force collected from 1999-2004 in the privatizing economies of Russia, Poland, Ukraine and Bulgaria, the United States, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Includes data collected by the United Nations (ILO) and World Bank. Lessons from the privatization of Social Security in Chile, Sweden, Great Britain and the United States are also provided. The authors’ recommend the inclusion of gender variables in designing and implementing policy change for social security and the workforce, in general. Based on the existing survey data and international case studies, recommends strategies to prevent and reduce the adverse impact of privatization on women in the work force and suggests future research on related issues of social security and health care.