Uneven Burdens: Women in Myanmar's Crisis Economy

A new report from UN Women and UNDP finds that women in Myanmar face systematic barriers to work, income and economic independence, even as they increasingly shoulder responsibility for their households amid conflict, mass displacement and economic collapse.

Drawing on the Myanmar Gender Survey, which is a nationally representative survey of 5,405 people conducted between January and April 2025, the report finds that 42 percent of women have no income at all, nearly double the rate for men. Unpaid care is a major driver of this exclusion, with nearly eight in ten women outside the labour force citing caregiving as their main reason for not working, compared to 26 percent of men. Women also reported spending almost twice as many hours on unpaid care and household work each day.

Conflict deepens these divides. In high-conflict areas, women's employment falls to 62 percent against 82 percent for men, a gap of nearly 20 percentage points. In areas of low or no conflict, women's employment is comparable to or marginally exceeds men's, indicating that conflict itself, through mobility restrictions, service withdrawals and heightened care demands, is driving the gap.

The report cautions that recovery focused only on expanding livelihoods will fall short. It sets out gender-responsive measures including investing in care services, supporting women entrepreneurs, protecting women's land and property rights, and targeting livelihood programmes in conflict-affected areas.