Bahrain Mirror: Bahraini Labor Minister Jameel Humaidan said that the Bahraini woman's income increased 100% in 12 years, to reach 559 BD in 2018 after it was 280 BD only in 2006.

This came in official statements to the minister on the International Women's day, in which he said that women constitute 52% of the total of new entrants to labor market (those who have been employed for the first time). Meanwhile, the vacancies available to women is 70% of the total vacancies proposed by the Labor Ministry.

Unemployment crisis in Bahrain has recently aggravated amid the deteriorating economic situation of Bahraini families, which are under more burdens and financial pressures. Females constitute 81% of the officially registered unemployed, and many Bahraini women have complained that they were hired by the ministry years before their temporary employment contracts terminated, noting that some of them were in government institutions such as the Ministry of Municipalities.

Bahraini women rely on selling products they manufacture at home to earn their living, amid the difficulty of getting a job or opening a shop, due to the competition of foreigners and lack of necessary funding, as well as the formality of government initiatives and rampant corruption in their application.

The minister said that women make up 39% of the total national workforce in Bahrain, and more than 50% in the government sector, and their percentage has risen in some sectors to 80%, such as education and health services.

Humaidan said the ministry employed a total of 9643 women during 2018, 8685 as full-time employees and 958 part-time.

Arabic Version