Gender Inequalities reamin a source of concern in african labour markets

A new book published by the World Bank has revealed that Gender inequalities remain a source of concern in African labor markets despite variations from one country to another.

The book, titled “Gender Disparities in Africa’s Labor Market”, reveals that overall there is a 17 percentage-point difference between the labor force participation rate for men and women which represents 78.3 and 61 percent respectively.

The study analyses household survey data collected in the early 2000s in 18 countries across Africa including Zambia looked into gender dimensions in employment, unemployment, pay gap, as well as the role of educational attainment.

The book shows that women’s participation rates in the labor market range from under 40 percent in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda, to 80 percent and above in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.

For Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, women’s employment ratio over the survey period is 25 percent lower than for men, respectively at 53 percent and nearly 70 percent.

Datasets indicate that in a number of African countries, women are almost twice as likely as men to be in the informal sector and about two times less likely to have a public or private formal job while Gender pay gap is high, but varies a great deal among countries

Segmentation by sector of employment shows that 70 percent of women work in agriculture compared to 64 percent of men, 6 percent in small industries men’s rate is 13 percent, and 23 percent in the service sector. Overall, women were underrepresented in the industry and service sector.

World Bank Senior Economist Jorge Arbache said What they found is that these disparities are caused mainly by very limited job prospects, differences in education, power dynamics in the household, and other human capital variables.

He added that there is little evidence to support the idea that labor market discrimination is a key explanation for gender gaps in underdeveloped economies, especially those whose job markets are small and can only supply formal employment for a minority of the population.

The 18 African countries surveyed are: Zambia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.

Meanwhile, the book has made recommendations which include facilitating women’s ownership of land and access to microcredit, as well as targeted measures that increase their bargaining power within the household, including through sensitization campaigns.

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