Is more women entering Yemen's labor market really progress?
Yemen's vicious civil war has altered many aspects of society so that women are forced into the family's breadwinning positions, which may not necessarily reflect a milestone in gender equality.
Yemen ranks last out of 144 countries on the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index. Yemen is also one of the world’s poorest countries and the region’s poorest country, with its proportion of impoverished citizens almost doubling during the ongoing conflict to reach 61% of the population in 2016 compared to 34% in 2014, according to mid-2016 World Bank estimates.
The implications of the conflict on the daily lives of all Yemenis have been tragic. When broken down based on gender and age, the tragedy becomes even more grievous. Women and children are always considered the first casualties of wars, and Yemen is no exception.
