Jamaica

Education and Employment Opportunities

The rate of female literacy (91.6 percent) in Jamaica exceed that of men (84.1 percent) and more than twice as many women as men enroll in tertiary education. Compared with men, women hold about 50 percent more of Jamaica's professional and technical jobs although women are less likely to be in the labor [Page 785]force, more are likely to be unemployed, and earn only about 63 percent as much as men do for similar work. Mothers are entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave at 100 percent of salary.

The World Economic Forum ranks Jamaica in the middle third of countries on gender equality. On a scale in which 1 indicates perfect equality and 0 indicates inequality, in 2009 Jamaica received an overall score of 0.701 with 1.000 for educational attainment (highest in the world), 0.971 for health and survival, 0.743 for economic participation and opportunity, and 0.091 for political empowerment. In the Jamaican government, women hold 15 percent of the seats in Parliament, 13 percent of ministerial positions, and have had one female head of state (Portia Lucretia Simpson-Miller, who served from March 2006 to September 2007).

In Jamaica, almost all women receive at least four prenatal care visits and almost all births are attended by skilled personnel. However, outcomes lag behind: the childhood immunization level is below 90 percent, the maternal mortality ratio is 170 per 100,000 live births, and infant mortality is 26 per 1,000 live births. Save the Children rates Jamaica 23rd on its Mothers’ Index, 24th on its Women's Index, and 28th on its Children's Index, out of 75 Tier II or less developed countries.

Excellence in Sports

One very visible area of excellence for Jamaica women is athletics where they regularly win Olympic medals and world championships particularly in the sprints. Well-known Jamaican track stars include Merlene Ottey, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Lorraine Fenton, Shelly-Ann Fraser, Tayna Lawrence, Beverly McDonald, and Sandie Richards.

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