GENDER DYNAMICS IN EMPLOYMENT AND LABOUR FORCE TRENDS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Öz

Culture, tradition, norms and stereotypes have always contributed to the gender division of labour. Women often assume much more of the household and care responsibilities which inhibit their ability and opportunity to participate in the labour market. The fact is that career and family decisions coincide in terms of timing call for systems which would allow a concordant time investment in both market work and nonmarket activities. The aim of this paper is to provide facts through a gender-based comparative analysis of the information on labour force, employment, and unemployment trends in South Africa, covering the period from 2010 to 2016. The paper analyses secondary data collected from the South African Quarterly Labour Force Survey covering the period from 2010 to 2016. The analysis of data is descriptive in nature. The results revealed that women were more likely than men to be unemployed or underemployed. Women’s share of the total informal workforce is higher than men’s share and they (women) are more likely to do unpaid household than men. The gender gap in employment, occupation and sector translates into limited access to employment-related social protection among females. Efforts need to be made in enabling environment towards women’s economic empowerment, through the expansion and improvement of the infrastructure for care services.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Employment,unemployment,labour market,South Africa,Gender dynamics

Kaynakça

1. Bellamy, K. & Rake, K. (2005). Money, money, money: Is it still a rich man’s world? London: The Fawcett Society.
2. Beukes, R.; Fransman, T.; Murozvi, S & Yu, D. (2017). Underemployment in South Africa. Journal of Development Southern Africa. 34, 33-55.
3. Bhorat, H. Goga, S. & Tseng, D. (2013). Unemployment Insurance in South Africa. DPRU Working Paper 13/160.
4. Bhorat, H. & Khan, S. 2018 Structural Change and Patterns of Inequality in the South African labour Market. Working Paper 201801. Development Policy Research Unit (DPRU). University of Cape Town. March 2018.
5. Braunstein, E., Heintz, J. (2006). Gender Bias and Central Bank Policy: Employment and Inflation Reduction. Working Paper No. 5. Project on “Alternatives to Inflation Targeting”. The Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts.
6. Byrne, D. & Strobl, E. (2004). Defining Unemployment in Developing Countries: the case of Trinidad and Tobago. Journal of Development Economics, 73, 465-476.
7. Casale, D. (2004). What has the feminisation of the labour force bought' women in South Africa? Trends in labour force participation, employment and earnings, 1995-2001. DPRU Working Paper No. 04/84, Cape Town: Development Policy Research Unit.
8. Chen, M., Vanek, J., Lund, F., Heintzand, J., Jhabvala, R. & Bonner, C. (2005). Progress of the world's women: women, work & poverty. New York: United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

9. Eurofound (2016). The Gender Employment Gap: challenges and solutions. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
10. Evandrou, M. & Glaser, K. (2003). Combining work and family life: the pension penalty of caring. Ageing and Society, 23:582-60.
11. Ferrant, G. Pesando, LM & Nowacka, K. (2014). Issues Paper: Unpaid Care Work: The missing link in the analysis of gender gaps in labour outcomes, OECD 2014.
12. Festus, L.; Kasongo, A.; Moses, M. & Yu, D. (2015). The South African Labour Market, 1995-2013. Economic Research Southern Africa (ERSA) Research Programme.
13. Hess, A. 2018. Benedict Cumberbatch: Actors Shouldn’t take Jobs Where their Female Co-Stars Aren’t Paid Equally. https://www.cnnc.com/2018/05/14/benedict-cumberbatch-will-onlytake-a-job-wher-women-are-paid-equally.html. Accessed 21 August 2018.
14. ILO. (2015). World Employment and Social Outlook: The changing nature of jobs 2015. ILO: Geneva.
15. ILO. (2016). Women at Work Trends 2016. International Labour Office: Geneva.
16. Kingdon, G. & Knight, J. (2007). Unemployment in South Africa, 1995–2003: Causes, Problems and Policies. Journal of African Economies, 6(5),813–848.
17. Levendale, C. (2017). Towards women’s economic empowerment: An overview of challenges, achievements, legislative mechanisms and programmes. International Women’s Conference, August 2017. Parliament of the Republic of South Africa.
18. Niyimbanira, F. (2016). Characterisation of time-related underemployment in a South African municipality: a case of Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga province. International journal of social sciences and humanity studies, 8(1), 116-132.
19. OECD, (2010). OECD Employment Outlook 2010 Moving Beyond the Jobs Crisis. https://doi.org/10.1787/empl_outlook-2010-en OECD. 2012. Closing the gender gap: act now. OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264179370-en. Research Brief on Gender and Equality in South Africa 2013-2017.
20. SA Human Rights Commission. https://www.shrc.org.za/home/21/files/RESEARCH%20BRIEF%20O N%20GENDER%20AND%20EQUALITY%20IN%SOUTH%20AF RICA%202013%TO%202017.pdf. Accessed 28 May 2018.
21. Slaughter, A. (2016). The work that makes work possible. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/03/unpaidcaregivers/474894/. Accessed 28/05/2018.
22. STATS SA (Statistics South Africa). (2018). Quarterly Labour Force Survey. Statistical release P0211. Pretoria: Government Printers.
23. Tolla, T. (2013). Black women’s experiences of domestic work: Domestic workers in Mpumalanga. University of Cape Town. http://www.psychology.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/image_tool/images /117/Tsidiso.Tolla_.pdf accessed 25/05/2018.
24. UN-Women. (2015). Tackling the Gender Pay Gap from Individual Choices to Institutional Change. Policy brief No. 6, New York.
25. UN. (2016). Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work. Report of the Secretary-General. Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-first session 13-24 March 2017.
26. UN Women. (2017). Redistribute unpaid work. UN.
27. World Bank. (2005). Women and poverty. Summary of women watch. New York: Oxford University