Palestinian women are increasingly involved in political life, but their presentation as decision makers in the Palestinian Authority is still marginal, a study found.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics conducted the study to mark International Women's Day.

The positions of president of the Stock Exchange Authority and governor for Ramallah and Al-Bireh are both held by women. The president of PCBS, Ola Awad, was the first female to head a non-ministerial governmental institution.

Meanwhile five of the 22 ministers in the PA cabinet are female, and one woman sits on the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

PCBS found that women had fewer opportunities to reach high positions in the public sector, noting that females occupied around 4 percent of Assistant Undersecretary jobs in PA ministries, compared with 32 percent of lower positions. Around one third of public sector jobs were held by women, the study found.

Illiteracy rates among women remain much higher than among men, but the gap has shrunk in the last decade. In 2010, around eight percent of women were illiterate compared with two percent of men.

The participation of women in the work force remains low in the Palestinian territories, and considerably lower than that of men. According to the study, 15 percent of women are employed, compared with 10 percent in 2001. In contrast, around 60 percent of men have jobs.

However, women earned more, bringing home an average daily wage of 73 shekels ($20.33) in 2010. For men, the average salary was 60 shekels ($16.71) a day.

Poverty rates were found to be higher in households headed by men than those headed by women, particularly rates for extreme poverty.

This can be partially accounted for by the fact that women heading households are more likely to receive humanitarian aid, while at the same time those households were likely to be smaller than those headed by men.

However, around 60 percent of women aged 15 and over were married, PCBS reported.

Palestinian women accounted for 34 of the prisoners held in Israeli jails. Of these, 20 had been sentenced - five to life imprisonment, 12 were awaiting trial, and two were held in administrative detention.