This is a report that examines income and gender inequality in Thailand. To begin with, the relative status of females is pitiable in most second world nations, compared to first world countries. Rise in per capita income results into advances in diverse interventions of gender equality, signifying existing market failure deterring, or delaying investment in young women within third world nations hence the need to promote development. Nevertheless, gender inequality is a major feminist subject matter, especially in the corporate world. In addition, this report will give in-depth put forward sustainable recommendations in the fight against inequality.
In Thailand, bias against women takes the form of perception of the ability of women. The society views women as less able compared to their male counterparts. These mentalities originate from their customs and traditional rationality (Paweenawat et.al, 98). The main predicament is old-fashioned societal attitudes aimed at maiming women rights. Unluckily, both women and men believe in the conservative traditions that inhibit equality and growth of women. Addressing gender inequality via particular state policies
Which exists in the constitution, completely integrated into laws, and assessed for efficiency in order to eradicate gender inequality and nurture equality between both men and women. The daily growth of Thailand’s economy directly influenced the acquisition of education among some young women, elevation to administration positions and female progress in general. Most of the gender inequality research depicts Thailand as nation which mat attains gender parity with more women receiving education (Paweenawat et.al, 101). In addition, studies reveal that women input in labor force and other information show that female employment in third world nations such as Thailand increase with increase in female education. However, as much as women can get an education and compete favorably with men, breaking the glass ceiling is not an easy task for them, hinting at discrimination and bias toward women.
In spite of Thai females attaining high echelons of schooling, and an increment in the communal and political contribution in the past decade, they still face deep rooted gender oriented discrimination hence hindering them from reaching top most position in political and corporate worlds where they would impact decision making and national policies pertaining gender equality in all the sections (Tikly, and Angeline 121). Whereas men dominance in the nation remains uncontested, women career advancement remains in their own hands or through the formation of women groups that will gather all women and champion their effort toward attaining gender parity.
The human development report, offers some solid instances of the challenges women face in the nation. One of the challenges is right to their own nationality. Women wedded to outsiders cannot allocate their residency to their partners, even though men who marry foreign women can transfer their nationality to their wives (Dabla-Norris et.al, 78). Secondly, the right to own property. Married women are under their husbands and the hubby has the right to own all property. Thirdly, a husband can hinder his partner from working abroad hence hindering access to new opportunities.
According to Son, (67) there are certain underlying reasons making parents invest in boys’ education than girls. First, it might be that the benefits of educating a woman are less than that of their counterpart males. This is solely applicable if the employment of both men and women are flawed alternates of each other in some tasks, thus women can perform some tasks better than men can. In this particular case, dissimilar quantities of education among young women and men may lead to effectual commercial picks. A second probability for parents investing more in males than female education could be due to the fact that social returns may be the same but parents expect more from their sons than from their daughters hence invest more in boys. For example, sons offer financial assistance to their parents during sunset years while daughters leave and cater to the needs of their family among other responsibilities. Therefore, the gender inequality resulting from education creates market failure as investing in women is a sub optimum. Thirdly, educating women would upset the status quo leading tom changes in the national policies.
Reasons for Income and Gender Inequality in Thailand
In Thailand, some of the elements that widen the gender and income gap are the variances in education. Education is a major determinant of income as it dictates rank and the income attached to the position. In this specific case, male inclined to attain higher level of education then specialize in marketable skills such as engineering and corporate world. Apart from level of education, experience takes toll on income among women. Females tend to have a fairly smaller work experience since they arrive and depart from the labor market because of domestic attentions (Paweenawat et.al, 104). In addition, ladies expect shorter or extra intermittent employment lives. Lastly, women may encounter discrimination from professions associated with men hence lowering their investment chances and opportunities. Simply put the field is not level hence; the country cannot attain gender parity that easily without implementing certain national policies.
Strategies That Will Enable Gender Parity
The first step is talking to all women. A basic reason for conversing with women is to acquire their own perspectives on the issue and integrate their voice in all the gender strategies whose agenda is narrowing the existing gender parity. No one should formulate gender policies or come up with programmes without involving the input of women. Hence, designing programmes through the voice of women is one of the most effective strategies of implementing. Secondly, ending underage girls from marrying older men and sexual aggravation. In Thailand, early marriages hinder women from accessing education facilities by 10% compared to other challenges (Tikly, and Angeline 130). Teenage women get pregnant and start marriages that hinder their progress in other sectors of life. Before reaching 18 years old, an estimated 30% of women aged between 15 and 19 have more than one child, which impedes progress in other sectors of life for the teenage women. In summary, ending child marriage will enable women complete their education and then acquire skills needed for the job market.
Recommendations
In summary, It is a fair simplification stating that societal status of females is pitiable in most third world nations like Thailand compared to first world regions. All people have a role to play in ensuring gender parity in all levels of the community. The United Nations set aside a day for the celebration of women (Paweenawat et.al, 56). The international women day celebrates women’s rights and raises awareness on the plight of women all over the world hence giving people the chance to change their perspectives while at the same time empowering women with knowledge and skills on how to deal with daily female issues. Such a day’s help commemorate and mark the milestone women took to attain gender parity in some sections of the world. In addition, such days help women know their rights and fight for them.
Women should advocate for their own rights and the right to education should be a first priority among women all over the world. According to UNICEF, schooling women not only equips them with information and skills but also enhances decision-making skills hence championing for education is not all there is to female education (Dabla-Norris et.al, 91). Women should receive education that caters them holistically, teaching them to better women, now and in the future. Women should learn how to support each other through the formation of social groups, which caters to their needs and protects them from prejudice. Women working as a team can prevent exploitation and enhance values that protect them against evil vices within the community. Therefore, women themselves can be valuable resources to each other and support each other’s needs and wants.
Women need not fight for women rights alone, men can join in the fight for gender equality and fight for the rights and privileges of women. More so, men have wives and daughters hence gender inequality would affect them in one way or another (Son 114). Thus, men should pull up their socks and push for national policies that would give a level playing field for both men and women. Men involvement would impact enactment of laws and motivate removal of laws that hinder gender parity. All over the world, government took measures to regulate gender inequality and increasing accessibility to education opportunities for girls. For instance, Lebanon overturned laws that shielded rapists from capital penalty.
Works cited
Dabla-Norris, Ms Era, et al. Causes and consequences of income inequality: A global perspective. International Monetary Fund, 2015.
Paweenawat, Sasiwimon Warunsiri, and Robert McNown. "The determinants of income inequality in Thailand: A synthetic cohort analysis." Journal of Asian Economics 31 (2014): 10-21.
Son, Hyun H. "Occupational segregation and gender discrimination in labor markets: Thailand and Viet Nam." Poverty, Inequality, and Inclusive Growth in Asia: Measurement, Policy Issues, and Country Studies (2011): 409.
Tikly, Leon, and Angeline M. Barrett. "Social justice, capabilities, and the quality of education in low income countries." International Journal of Educational Development 31.1 (2011): 3-14.
