This section is also new this round of the survey. It elicits the respondents assessment of the status of women in comparison to men in their cities.

Women's status was compared to that of men in twelve categories. Six of the twelve categories, those dealing with education and health, indicated that women generally have equal access or opportunity as compared to men. Five categories, those concerning political participation, job opportunities and level of payment, showed that women have less or much less access to the indicated areas. Only one, life expectancy at birth, indicated that women are better off than men.

a. Women's Condition in Comparison to Men: This question compares the status and opportunities of men and women. It consists of twelve specific areas.

figure 5-1
Women's Condition in Comparison to Men
Access to Education

As shown in figure 5-1, women generally have equal access to education. There is a dramatic increase in the number of responses indicating "much less" access as the level of education increases. Also, the respondents indicated that many women are "less" or "much less" literate than men. This corresponds to the decline in equality in the higher levels of education.

figure 5-2
Women's Condition in Comparison to Men
Health Issues

Women are reported to have "about equal access" in the areas of health care. Women's life expectancy is often seen as being "superior" to that of men. Access to primary health care seems to be generally equal.

figure 5-3
Women's Condition in Comparison to Men
Public Sector

Women lag far behind men in political power and public sector employment. Again this is partially due to the limited access women have to higher education. Political involvement and political power are often directly influenced by a person's level of education. The only area where women are seen to enjoy equality with men in this section is in clerical positions. These position are usually lower in status than the administrative positions. Thus, equality here is somewhat dubious. With only limited access to higher than primary education, it is predictable that women's power and involvement in the public sector would be lower than men's. We see women generally having far less access than men to the public sector.

figure 5-4
Women's Condition in Comparison to Men
General Employment

This last figure indicates that while women have less than equal opportunity in private sector employment, they generally get equal pay for their work. If a women can secure a job, she can expect equal pay in most cases.

The following tables show the ranking of each of the twelve specific areas of this section based on the respondent's perception.

Table 5-1
Ranking of Women's Condition in Comparison to Men:
Much Less

Table 5-1 shows women have the least amount of equality in the two areas of public administration and political power. "High administrative positions" ranks as the area of least equality. The gap in the number of respondents between the three highest ranking items and the fourth item (tertiary education) is a significant one.

Table 5-2
Ranking of Women's Condition in Comparison to Men:
Less

The same three top ranking items indicated as being "much less" equal are appear again here as being "less" equal. The order has change with "political power" now being ranked first. The gap between ranks is much less in table 5-2 than in table 5-1.

Table 5-3
Ranking of Women's Condition in Comparison to Men:
About Equal

Primary education, health care, and secondary education are the three items where men and women are seen as having the most equality. Payment is close behind these top three items.

Table 5-4
Ranking of Women's Condition in Comparison to Men:
Superior

Life expectancy is by far the item where women's condition is most often indicated as being superior to men's condition. More than three times the number of respondents indicated superiority here than in the next highest ranking item, clerical work. The equality indicated in health care (table 5-3) likely benefits women in the area of life expectancy.

Tables 5-5 to 5-13 show the distribution of responses in this section by country. The row "% of Total" in each table shows two numbers. The first is the percent of the total including the "no replies." The second number was calculated without including the "no replies." This second number gives a more accurate representation of the data.

Table 5-5
Ranking of Women's Condition in Comparison to Men:
China

All thirteen of the respondents here indicated women's condition regarding life expectancy as being superior to that of men. With only 3% of the respondents giving a "much less" response; Chinese women, while still having less access to many areas, are perceived by respondents as having more equality than many other countries represented here. China ranks fourth in perceived equality.

Table 5-6
Ranking of Women's Condition in Comparison to Men:
India

With 72% of the responses in the "less" or "much less" categories. No respondent indicated equality in the areas of political power and high administration. India ranked eighth in perceived equality for women.

Table 5-7
Ranking of Women's Condition in Comparison to Men:
Indonesia

While Indonesia shows a considerable amount of equality, the areas of political power, high administration, and middle administration indicated as being "less" or "much less." Indonesia ranked fifth in perceived equality for women.

Table 5-8
Ranking of Women's Condition in Comparison to Men:
Japan

Although no Japanese respondent gave information regarding access to education or health care, objective data shows that women have equal access to all levels of education and to health care in Japan. Despite this access to education, Japanese women are indicated as having "less" or "much less" access in all categories except life expectancy and clerical positions. Japan ranked seventh in perceived equality of women.

Table 5-9
Ranking of Women's Condition in Comparison to Men:
South Korea

Korean women are indicated as generally having equality in access to education and health care. The general equality in these areas indicated by Korean respondents does not seem to lead to equality in the areas of political power, public administration, private sector employment, and level of payment. South Korean ranked sixth in perceived equality of women.

Table 5-10
Ranking of Women's Condition in Comparison to Men:
Malaysia

76% of the respondents indicate that Malaysian women equal or superior access selected areas. These responses place Malaysia as the third most equal country in this survey.

Table 5-11
Ranking of Women's Condition in Comparison to Men:
Pakistan

No respondent indicated equality in literacy or any of the three public sector employment areas. Women also are indicated as having generally less access to all levels of education. "Less" or "much less" was indicated for all twelve areas by 80% of the respondents from Pakistan. Pakistan ranked ninth in perceived equality for women.

Table 5-12
Ranking of Women's Condition in Comparison to Men:
the Philippines

With a total of 82% of respondents indicating "about equal" or "superior" access, the situation in the Philippines seem to be the most equal of the countries represented here. Only in the areas of tertiary education, political power, and high administration did any of the respondents indicated "much less" access.

Table 5-13
Ranking of Women's Condition in Comparison to Men:
Thailand

Thailand is second (behind the Philippines) in perceived equality in this survey. Only in one area, political power, did respondents indicate "mush less" access. 80% of the respondents indicate "about equal" or "superior" access for women in Thailand.

b. Women's Status: In Comparison to National Average: This question examines the status of women in the respondent's city as compared to that of their country as a whole.

Figure 5-7
Perception as Compared to the Country's Average

As can be seen in figure 5-7, an overwhelming majority of the respondents see women's status in their cities as being much better than, somewhat better than, or about the same as that in other cities in their respective countries. As indicated, women are perceived as having less access to higher education, less political involvement and power, and less equality in the work force. If this is the case and the situation in respondents' cities are indeed generally the same or better than in other cities in their respective countries, then this bodes badly for the status of women in these countries in general.

Table 5-14 shows the general perception of the status of women as compared to other cities for each country. No country's average perception indicated that the situation for women was worse than that of men. Respondents from Indonesia and The Philippines even indicated an average perception of women's status in their cities as being better than in other cities in their countries.

Table 5-14
General Perception of Status of Women
Compared to Other Cities by Country

Table 5-15 shows the respondents' perceptions of the status of women as compared to men in the their cities by region. Differences can be seen between these regions.

Table 5-15
Perception of the Status of Women
by Region

Respondents from Southeast Asia rate the status of women in their ities relatively high. Only 1 of the 71 respondents from this region indicated that their city's situation is worse than their country's average.

A majority of respondents from East Asia see their cities as being average. While 14 of the 74 East Asian respondents indicated women's status in their cities was worse than average, only 8 indicated it was better. It seems that East Asian respondents view the status of women in their cities in a somewhat harsher light than in the other two regions.

An equal number of respondents from South Asian cities rate the status of women as equal to or better than other cities in their countries. It should be mentioned again here that this question asks for the respondent's perception of the status of women in their city as compared to other cities in their respective countries. Therefore, South Asia respondents indicating "much better" does not mean the situation is better when compared to cities in East Asia. It simply indicates that the respondents think women enjoy higher status in their particular city than in other cities in their respective countries.

Table 5-16 shows the general perception of the status of women by city population. The number of respondents indicating women in their cities are better off than those in other cities increase along with population. Likewise, the number of respondents indicating women are worse off in their cities generally decreases as population increases.

Table 5-16
Status of Women by Population