Women of a lesser cost : female labour, foreign exchange & Philippine development

Women of a Lesser Cost explores one of the key questions in current research on gender and develop ment: the links among women's employment, migration and household organisation.

While female labour force participation has long been recognised as depending on a broad spectrum of social, economic and demographic factors, few studies to date have considered these in an integrated manner, and fewer still on the basis of in-depth primary research. Drawing on over 400 interviews with workers, households and employers in the Philippine Visayas, SYLVIA CHANT and CATHY MCILWAINE consider three activities critical to the generation of foreign exchange and export oriented development - export-manufacturing, inter national tourism and sex work. They examine the ways in which women's incorporation into these different sectors interacts with their social, demographic and eco nomic circumstances. While the outcomes are diverse and often contradictory, the authors' findings provide important new insights into the nature of women's work and its implications for gender roles and relations.