The number of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will only grow due to an equally astounding birth rate. The fertility rate for the average Palestinian woman is 6.06, a number much higher than most developing countries. Observers predict that by the year 2025, the number of people in the West Bank and Gaza will double to nearly 8 million people.

The combination of these two factors creates an immense burden upon Palestinian society to provide for its growing population. Seventy-five percent of Palestinian society is composed of women and children. Because only 11.7 percent of women participate in the paid labor force (as well as a regrettable 3 percent of children), the large majority of Palestinians are dependents.

At the same time, the economic outlook of the Palestinian areas looks grim. From 1994 to 1996, the Gross Domestic Product of the Palestinian Territories has grown by about 31 percent, although the large majority of that growth came from tariffs. Unemployment in 1998 was estimated at 14.4 percent. By many reports, that situation has improved due to Israel's loosening of the closure to Palestinian workers inside the Green Line. Still, the average Palestinian annual income is at $1,750 - one tenth of per capita income in neighboring Israel. Nearly six percent of those employed are underemployed in jobs below their training.

Hence, Palestinians have a high population growth and a flagging economy. Even if the economic situation were to stay the same, the Palestinian Authority would be struggling to build enough schools, hospitals and housing to accommodate the burgeoning population. But that scenario seems unlikely - the United Nations population conference in Cairo stressed that overcrowding produces more poverty.

These numbers have all kinds of social implications for human rights, for Palestinian society and in particular for the social "health" of Palestinian women. "Demographic figures play a critical role in social progress," Mary Chin of the International Labor Office in Geneva told a conference.

"Unbalanced population growth and uneven population distribution undermine the attainment of the core of ILO objectives of promoting social justice, full and freely chosen productive employment, the dignity of workers and improved working conditions."

It seems clear that a reduction in fertility can only be in the best interests of Palestinians, and, I would argue, the best way to encourage a reduction in fertility is to encourage women's participation in the work force. "It is clear that women who are engaged in both formal wage work, as well as the informal sector, have a lower overall fertility rate than women outside the labor force, " writes sociologist Rema Hamammi as she makes recommendations on integrating Palestinian women into the work force.

Presently, one Palestinian phenomenon that aids the high birth rate is a low age of marriage, hovering around 19 years for most women. It stands to reason that, if more women were integrated into the work force, more women would marry later in life because the option of career pursuit would be available.

Again, we see the circular effect - the later women marry, the less children they produce and the more society benefits. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics numbers show that while the fertility rate for "housewives" was at 7.30, the fertility rate for "working women" is 2.72, a dramatic difference. The correlation between less children and a woman's work for pay seems clear. Further, with a lower fertility rate, the number of people entering the labor market will go down and women's employment will reduce the burden on the "traditional" breadwinner.

The results of an August 1999 Jerusalem Media & Communications Center poll drive this point home. When women were asked whether they would like to work, 45 percent said yes. When then asked why they didn't work, nearly 24 percent of the women polled who would like to work said that they stayed at home in order to raise children.

Even more interesting, the response that received the next highest agreement was that "my husband/children/brothers do not allow me" to work - 15.8 percent of women who want to work responded this way. Another 8 percent put their unemployment down to "traditions. " These results appear to show that, for women who would like to work, there is a great deal of societal and practical pressure to stay at home. Twelve percent of women who say they would like to work believe that they cannot because of a lack of education.

These poll results show that there are many social hurdles to cross before women can become more fully integrated into the workforce. There is no doubt, however, that tackling those social issues is crucial for the healthy development of Palestine.

"International literature on the developing world shows that overall women's engagement in wage work and income generation generally has a profoundly positive effect on child welfare and nutrition," writes Hamammi. While opponents may argue that pushing women out of the home will hurt Palestinian families, Hamammi says that is unsubstantiated. Research shows that women's presence in the labor force has little to do with marital breakdown.

If more women become wage-earners, and the fertility rate goes down, there will be widespread benefits for society as a whole. Child labor will decrease and as such, the quality of children's education will improve. Not only will you have less people entering the labor force, but those people will have been better educated.

Further, the benefits for Palestinian women are numerous. With their employment, many of women's social restrictions that come hand in hand with staying at home also fade away. When a woman is at home, her options are limited. Her days are long and dull. Employment gives a woman multiple viewpoints on life that she is not exposed to if she stays at home.

Studies show that Palestinian women rely more on radio and television as their source of news whereas men rely primarily on print media to find out what is going on in the world. I would argue that this is true because women in the home have less access to print sources of information. I would also argue that radio and television are more propaganda-oriented, particularly in this part of the world (further, they carry messages that are detrimental to women's development). Getting women out of the home, and thus exposing them to more critical sources of information can only then assist in building the Palestinian democracy.

None of the above recommendations are reinventing the wheel. All were reiterated in the UN women's conference in Beijing, where it was clearly stated that developmental efforts in the third world must be linked to gender development. Palestine needs to grow socially, economically and politically. The best way to do this is to actively encourage the growth of women in the same arenas.

More important, perhaps, is that women be given their full rights as human beings as stipulated in various human rights conventions. We know that a large number of Palestinian women are willing to work if the reason behind their unemployment goes away. We, Palestinian society, must make that change. -Published 29/9/99 (c)Palestine Report ©Palestine Report