Includes bibliographical reference and appendix.

The Philippines is a good case to discuss boom-bust cycles and their genderdimensions. In times of boom, men increase their employment at the sametime that real wages and labor productivity increase or decline less rapidly.Women may or may not benefit as much from this boom.In times of bust,when real wages and productivity decline more rapidly, women expand theirlabor force participation and increase their work hours (relative to those ofmen) while the men are displaced. In the long run (after several booms andbusts), this contributes to widening the disparities in earning and laborproductivity between sexes.
It is imperative that an alternative development strategy be adopted.Industrialization employing better technology and more skilled workersshould be the aim in order to absorb the growing educated labor force inrural and urban areas and to stem the outward migration of the population,particularly of women. By concentrating on rural development and rural-urban linkages, economic development can become more equitable,moregender fair,less import-dependent and in the end more sustainable.
An alternative development strategy, however, should not be confinedto the economic sphere alone. There is a need to directly address stereotypedgender roles in the home. Because women have traditionally done most ofthe housework, the increased dependency burden (due to an increase inunemployed family members and relatives) puts more pressure on womenjust when they are asked to increase their participation in labor markets. Thatwomen become domestics and 'entertainers' in both domestic and foreignmarkets during both good and bad times again indicates the need to expandthe struggle beyond the economic.