<strong>Women</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Men</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Caribbean</strong> <strong>Community</strong>ment of <strong>the</strong>ir male counterparts. While unemployment rates are lowest for those with universitylevel education, <strong>and</strong> highest for those with little or no education, women have higherunemployment rates than men at all levels of education.Educational atta<strong>in</strong>ment does not appear to improve women’s employment opportunities. Inaddition, subject choices have implications for <strong>the</strong>ir labour market achievement. In this eraof <strong>in</strong>formation technology, an orientation towards arts <strong>and</strong> social sciences limits access tojobs, especially for <strong>the</strong> new entrants <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> labour market where women <strong>and</strong> men have differentoccupational patterns. For example, women tend to cluster more <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> services sector,<strong>and</strong> men have a better distribution over <strong>the</strong> different sectors—agriculture, <strong>in</strong>dustry <strong>and</strong> services.They work shorter hours on average than men <strong>and</strong> earn less than men. The <strong>in</strong>come gappersists with<strong>in</strong> occupational group, status <strong>in</strong> employment level <strong>and</strong> branch of activity, <strong>and</strong> isirrespective of <strong>the</strong> period covered, whe<strong>the</strong>r daily or monthly wage.Implications for Policy Intervention<strong>Caribbean</strong> populations reflect a particular sensitivity to global <strong>in</strong>fluences, given <strong>the</strong>ir uniquehistories of colonialism <strong>and</strong> development strategies that are tied to global economic realities.For example, <strong>the</strong> effects of globalisation, privatisation, structural adjustment policies <strong>and</strong>trade polices that have negatively affected <strong>the</strong> region—particularly smaller agriculturedependentcountries—have resulted <strong>in</strong> an <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> poverty, with harsh effects on households<strong>and</strong> families. However, <strong>Caribbean</strong> populations have been forced to develop a repertoireof creative responses. For example, survival strategies have been reflected <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> expansion offamilies <strong>in</strong>to larger households that are not necessarily bound by biological ties <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>ternal<strong>and</strong> external migration that have <strong>in</strong>fluenced population shifts, household size <strong>and</strong> composition,<strong>and</strong> produced trans-national families.The impact of global macro policies on small states, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> household as a micro unit, hasrequired new adjustments to current challenges, such as HIV/AIDS <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>creased crime <strong>and</strong>violence. In addition, gender-specific concerns, <strong>and</strong> renewed concerns about women’s social,economic <strong>and</strong> political rights, highlight implications for labour force participation, <strong>in</strong>come,health <strong>and</strong> domestic abuse aga<strong>in</strong>st women <strong>and</strong> children. There is a need <strong>the</strong>n, for a new visionmatched by proactive measures for manag<strong>in</strong>g education, employment <strong>and</strong> health <strong>and</strong> forensur<strong>in</strong>g gender equality <strong>and</strong> justice. These measures can only become more precise by plann<strong>in</strong>g<strong>and</strong> implementation drawn from evidence-based research that undergirds convictionwith hard data, particularly with respect to women <strong>and</strong> youth.With<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> constra<strong>in</strong>ts of <strong>the</strong> data, this report has succeeded <strong>in</strong> flagg<strong>in</strong>g some critical issuesfor policy <strong>in</strong>tervention <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Region. The problems of data gaps <strong>and</strong> deficiencies have beenhighlighted <strong>in</strong> Chapter 6. Suggestions to improve <strong>the</strong> data <strong>in</strong>clude <strong>the</strong> need for national statisticaloffices (NSOs) <strong>and</strong> agencies to be provided with <strong>in</strong>stitutional <strong>and</strong> f<strong>in</strong>ancial support <strong>in</strong>order to collect, compile <strong>and</strong> dissem<strong>in</strong>ate high quality <strong>and</strong> timely social statistics disaggregatedby age <strong>and</strong> sex. This is a major <strong>in</strong>tervention <strong>in</strong> order to enable <strong>the</strong> availability <strong>and</strong>accessibility of social statistics for policy formation.6
OVERVIEWBased on <strong>the</strong> content of <strong>the</strong> substantive areas—Population, Households <strong>and</strong> Families,Education, Health <strong>and</strong> Work—<strong>the</strong> follow<strong>in</strong>g issues require attention or fur<strong>the</strong>r study:• Population dynamics, <strong>in</strong> particular <strong>the</strong> issue of migration <strong>and</strong>its impact—regional <strong>and</strong> extra-regional;• Education progression with<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> secondary school, <strong>and</strong> specifically of boys,focus<strong>in</strong>g on factors such as dropout <strong>and</strong> repetition rates;• Performance at CXC exam<strong>in</strong>ations at both <strong>the</strong> General <strong>and</strong> Basic levels,<strong>in</strong>clusive of <strong>the</strong> differentials by sex;• Increas<strong>in</strong>g life expectancy <strong>in</strong> most Member States <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> implications for <strong>the</strong>care of <strong>the</strong> elderly, as well as attention to be paid to <strong>the</strong> few Member Stateswith lower life expectancy;• Address<strong>in</strong>g issues surround<strong>in</strong>g child mortality <strong>and</strong> its causes, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> need forstudies on such topics as acute respiratory <strong>in</strong>fections <strong>and</strong> malnutrition;• The need for action <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> area of mental health, particularly on <strong>the</strong> issueof suicides;• The issue of education as a factor pre-empty<strong>in</strong>g high risk behaviours of youth<strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r age groups—with respect to substance abuse, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g alcohol, <strong>and</strong><strong>the</strong> prevalence of HIV/AIDS <strong>in</strong> various age-groups <strong>and</strong> pregnant women;• Related to <strong>the</strong> above are policies with respect to HIV/AIDS <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> emulationof The Bahamas, where <strong>the</strong> number of new cases has been reduced;• Increased access to public health for pregnant women; educationto <strong>in</strong>crease awareness; <strong>and</strong> reduc<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> emigration of skilled personnel,<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g tra<strong>in</strong>ed midwives;• Greater attention to chronic non-communicable diseases relative to <strong>the</strong>lead<strong>in</strong>g causes of death;• Increased attention to <strong>and</strong> surveillance for <strong>the</strong> early detection of cancers suchas breast, cervical <strong>and</strong> prostate cancer.7
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