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Employment Patterns - Morocco

As shown in Figure 3, Moroccan women who are employed report a range of types of jobs in which they work.

  • The most common occupations among working Moroccan women are in crafts and related trades and low skill occupations (both 22%), followed by service and sales occupations (18%) and technicians and associates (14%). (Because the overall sample of working women in the study was quite small, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions about whether the occupational distribution represented here is generalizable to the population as a whole.)

A number of these fields of employment require an investment in time for specific training and skills, but few appear to be professional or managerial.

The distribution of men across occupations, shown in Figure 4, is quite similar to that seen among women.

  • Men, however, are more likely than women to work in the craft and related trades (28%), elementary occupations (25%), and skilled agriculture (18%) and less likely to work in service and sales or as technicians (10% for both.)
  • Lower income women in Morocco were more likely to work multiple jobs than higher income women: Among women in the lowest socioeconomic category, 14% stated that they work two or more jobs, compared to just 4% among those in the highest socioeconomic category.

Although Moroccan women’s labor force participation might be low compared to that of men, women who are employed appear to work more steadily. Nearly 70% of women work on a full-time basis, compared to 56% of men. Eighteen percent of employed women work part time, 2% seasonally, and 5% on a “free schedule.” In contrast, 29% of employed men work part time and 12% seasonally. Six percent of women but none of the men in the sample either did not answer the question or said they did not know how often they worked (Figure 5)

A majority of employed women are paid a salary or regular wages (58%), though nearly a quarter are self-employed. A plurality of men is self employed (43%), and three in ten are paid a salary or wages (31%) (Figure 6).

  • One in four men works on a casual or informal basis, compared to only 9% of women. Very few Moroccans are paid in-kind or contribute to businesses on an unpaid basis (3% of women and 2% of men).
  • Married women are more likely to be self employed than unmarried women (29% versus 19%), though pluralities work for wages or a salary (married women 49%, unmarried women 67%).
  • As shown in Figure 7, Women are more than three times as likely as men to work in the public sector: 24% of employed women work either in government or in government-owned corporations, compared to just 7% of men. Ninety-three percent of men work in the private sector, compared to 68% of working women, and 8% of women did not know or did not say what industry they work in.
  • Public sector (government) jobs appear to be concentrated in North Central Morocco (Fes-Boulmane and Taza-Al  Hoceima), where 34% of employed women work for the government and another 16% work in government-owned corporations, and North Morocco (Gharb-Chrarda-Draa, Rabat-Sale-Zemmour, and Tanger-Tetouan), where 22% of employed women work for the government and 43% for government-owned corporations. Since sample sizes for working women by region were quite small, it is somewhat difficult to draw

In addition to questions about formal labor force participation, respondents were asked whether they participated in a number of informal economic activities.

  • Of the informal economic activities shown in Figure 8, only two appear to show gender differences: nearly  20% of men but only 1% of women buys and resells goods, and  women are somewhat more likely to produce handicrafts than men (9% vs 5%). Women and men are nearly equally likely to raise poultry or livestock, produce dairy products, collect firewood, and offer services at a hotel or a shop
  • Not surprisingly, women living in rural areas are significantly more likely than their urban counterparts to raise poultry or livestock (38% versus 2%), produce dairy products (26% versus 1%), and collect firewood (26% versus 1%).
  • Ten percent of men participate in construction activities. This activity is more common in rural areas (16%) than in urban areas (5%). Women were not asked this question, so a comparison is not possible.
  • Only 29% of women and 44% of men reported participating in any of the informal economic activities listed.