Sarawak Minister highlights informal sector impact on female labor participation

Sarawak Minister for Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development, Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah, stated that the gender gap in labor force participation may be wider than official statistics suggest due to the prevalence of informal work.

According to 2024 data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the female labor force participation rate in Sarawak was 52.7 percent, compared to 85.4 percent for men. Fatimah noted that many women engaged in small-scale businesses or caregiving roles, such as looking after neighbors' children, are not captured in formal employment figures.

To address these disparities, the state government launched the Sarawak Women@Work initiative in the Samarahan Division. The program aims to increase female workforce participation by expanding access to economic opportunities, skills, and entrepreneurship. Additionally, the government provides financial support to women heads of households (KIRWAS), with 274 recipients receiving aid to date. Fatimah also emphasized that childcare support is a critical factor in enabling women to remain in the workforce.