WP 92 - An overview of women's work and employment in Azerbaijan

M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin

Table 10 shows the more detailed distribution of educational levels for the female labour force by age
group.

Source: authors’calculations on ILO Laborsta, Table 1B

It turns out that the women 25-29 of age were highest educated (a rating, as eludicated above, of
3.67), followed by the 35-39 of age (3.63) and those aged 30-34 (3.61). In all three groups, over 35% had a
completed education at ISCED level 4 or higher, and 23-27% even were educated at the combined highest
ISCED levels 5-6. Jointly, 21% of the 15-29-year-olds, our target group, was educated at level 5-6, and 11%
at level 4, though of course part of this group was still in education. As the ratings show not only the cohort
from 60 of age onwards but also the middle-aged group, women aged 40-54, turned out to be relatively low
educated.

We can now produce an estimate of the size of the target group of the DECISIONS FOR LIFE project
for Azerbaijan, the girls and young women aged 15-29, working in urban areas in commercial services -- that
is, wholesale and retail as well as commercial services more narrowly defined, like finance and restaurants
and hotels. The total size of the female labour force aged 15-29 in Azerbaijan can be estimated at 580,000.
Given an urbanisation rate of 52%, about 300,000 lived and worked in urban areas. Of this 300,000, about
30%¹⁰ or approximately 90,000 girls and young women can be estimated to belong to our target group as
they worked in commercial services. A growing share of them, roughly to be estimated at about 40% or
36,000, may currently work outside paid employment. Some 30,000 to 40,000 (depending on the economic
conditions) girls and young women will enter into commercial services employment in the next five years.

10 We calculate with a 4%points overrepresentation of girls and young women aged 15-29 in commercial services compared to
women over age 29.

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