H.E. Ms. Ola Awad, President of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, on Thursday 07/03/2019, highlighted the situation of the Palestinian women on the eve of the International Women's Day, 08/03/2019.


Women epresent half of the Palestinian society
The population  in Palestine estimated 4.98 million in mid 2019, including 2.53 million males (51%) and 2.45 million females (49%), whereas the sex ratio stood at 103.5, which means that there are 103.5 males for every 100 females.
Data of Labor Force Survey, 2018 showed that the percentage of women-headed households in Palestine was 11% (12% in the West Bank and 9% in Gaza Strip).

Significant decrease in the percentage of early marriage in Palestine
There is a decline in the percentage of early marriage (for those under the age of 18) for both sexes, where it reached 20% of the females’ registered marriages in 2017 (19% in the West Bank and 21% in Gaza Strip) of the total number of married females in the same year compared with 24% in 2010, while the percentage was 1% of males’ registered marriages of the total number of married males in the same year, compared to 1.5% in 2010.

The highest percentage of female early marriage in the West Bank was in Hebron governorate at 38%, and the lowest was in Jericho and Al Aghwar at 1% of the total number of married women in the West Bank. In Gaza Strip, the highest percentage of early marriage for females was 42% in Gaza governorate, while the lowest percentage was in Dier Al Balah governorate at 8% of the total number of married women in Gaza Strip in 2017.

About two third of women (18 years and above) are married
According to the Labor Force Survey 2018, the percentage of married women of total number of women aged 18 years and above was 64%, 28% never married, 6% widows and 2% divorced.

Women with disabilities
According to Population, Housing and Establishments Census  2017 Final Results, Disability  percentages in Gaza Strip were higher than those in the West Bank for both sexes; The number of Persons with Disability was 27 thousand with (2.9%) of total for males and 21 thousand with (2.3%) of total for females in Gaza Strip, compared to 24 thousand with (1.9%) of total for males and 20 thousand with (1.6%) of total females in the West Bank.


Significant decrease in the rates of illiteracy among women
Despite the decline in illiteracy rate of women over the past decade, there is still a gap, where the illiteracy rate among women was 4% compared to 1% for men according to the Labor Force Survey 2018.

Rise in enrollment rates of females in secondary stage and higher education
Data of Ministry of Education and Higher Education, for the scholastic year 2017/2018 showed that male enrollment in secondary stage  was 71%, compared to female enrollment, which was 91%. As for the percentage of female students enrolled in the Palestinian higher education institutions reached 60% of the total number of students enrolled in institutions of higher education.

A gap in the participation rate in the labour force and average daily wage between women and men
Despite the increase in participation of women in the labour force in previous years, still, it is very low compared to men, where women participation rate was 21% of the total women at work age in 2018, compared to 10% in 2001, while the men participation rate was 72% in 2018. There was also a gap in the average daily wages between men and women (the average daily wage for women was 92 NIS compared to 129 NIS for men).

The gap in labour force participation between women and men with disabilities is deepening
According to the Labour Force Survey 2018 data, women with disabilities participation rate in labour force in Palestine was only 4% of the total women with disabilities compared to 21% of the total number of men with disabilities.

High unemployment rates among women; and more than half of women with 13 schooling years and above are unemployed
The unemployment rate among participated women in the labour force was 51% compared to 25% for men. Unemployment rate among women with 13 schooling years and above reached 54% of women in this group.

Households headed by women are poorer
The percentage of poverty among individuals in households headed by women in Gaza Strip was 54%, while it was 19% in the West Bank. This is based on the main results of living standards in Palestine (expenditure, consumption, and poverty), 2017.

Palestinian women in public life
Women's participation in public life remained limited compared with men, where 82% of judges were men, compared to 18% for women, while 73% of registered lawyers were men, compared to 27% for women and 80% of prosecutors were men, compared to 20% for women.  Women represented 25% of registered engineers with the Union of Engineers while men represented 75%. On the other hand, in 2017, 31% of members of students councils in the West Bank universities were females, compared to 69% for males.

In the public sector, women represented 43% of the employees in civil public sector, compared to 57% for men.  In the civil public sector, women represented 12% of the general directors and higher, compared to 88% for men in the same category.