Jobs Crisis Has a Woman's Face: In Asia, the Unemployment Crisis Poses Disproportionate Threat to Women Workers. Social Equality and Economic Stability Rely on Policy-Makers Considering Both Genders in Their Response

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In the Asia-Pacific, as many as 27 million more people could become unemployed this year, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). Some 140 million others in the region's developing economies could be forced into extreme poverty.

While the deepening crisis will affect everyone, working women will be affected more severely, and differently, from their male counterparts, especially at the lower end of the socio-economic scale. Failure of policy-makers to take this gender dimension into account could worsen the working and living conditions of millions, deepen economic and social inequalities, and wipe out a generation of hard-won gains in pay equity and workplace equality.

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