The role of females, as productive agents, is becoming critical in a rapidly changing global
economic scenario. However, there is a need to improve the quality of the female labor force,
to provide legislative support to ensure equality of opportunity and rewards between males
and females, and to involve females more actively and effectively in development activity
and the process of decision making.
In general, females are less educated, have less access to health facilities, less control of assets,
less access to social security, less access to financial resources, and less earning capacity. These
characteristics are blamed for the higher incidence of poverty among females. Recent empirical
literature emphasizes that in the post-structural adjustment period, the slowdown in
economic activity has also resulted in the feminization of poverty in the developing countries.
For example, Khan (1999) found an increasing trend toward the feminization of
agricultural labor1
and the feminization of poverty2
in the post-adjustment period. But the
study by Brown (1992) argues that employment is a key factor in determining females’
empowerment and some aspects of economic reforms may lead to improvement in the labor
market in the long run. Other studies also report mixed results. A review of these studies
reveals that the overall effect of structural adjustment programs is difficult to measure, as it
varies across countries, sectors, and individuals