economic policy international africa society gender house believes feminisation

Again employment needs to be contextualised with what type of jobs are provided and entered into. It remains questionable as to whether the mental health of women improves if women are employed to work within hazardous work environments, or where there is no job security.  For example domestic workers remain vulnerable to different abuses - such as non payment, excessive work hours, abuse, and forced labour. Women may be vulnerable to gender based violence on their way to work. Furthermore, street traders are placed in a vulnerable position where the right to work is not respected. The forced eviction and harassment of female street-traders is a common story, underlined by political motivations. A recent example includes the eviction of street hawkers in Johannesburg [1] .  [1] See further readings: WIEGO, 2013.

For rights to be granted women need to be able to have a position within trade unions, and policy change is required.  A recent study shows fewer women than men are found in trade unions across eight African countries looked at in a study(Daily Guide, 2011). The greatest degree of women’s involvement was from teacher and nurses unions, however, there remains a lack of representation at leadership levels. The lack of a united, or recognised, women’s voice in trade unions undermines aims for gender equality and mainstreaming for those women who are working.  Additionally, at a larger scale, policy change is required. Empowerment cannot occur where unequal structures remain - therefore the system needs to be changed. Governments need to engender social policy and support women - providing protection, maternity cover, pension schemes, and security, which discriminate against women and informal workers.

The relation between employment, money, and household poverty is not a simple correlation when we consider the type of jobs women are entering. In developing countries work in the informal economy is a large source of women’s employment (Chen et al, 2004). In the case of Sub-Saharan Africa, 84% of women in non-agricultural work are in the informal economy (ILO, 2002). Only 63% of men work in the informal economy. Women represent a large proportion of individuals working in informal employment and within the informal sector. Informal employment means employment lacks protection and/or benefits, and the informal sector involves unregistered or unincorporated private enterprises.  Such a reality limits the capability to use employment to escape poverty (see Chant, 2010). With wages low, jobs casual and insecure, and limited access to social protection schemes or rights-based labour policies, women are integrated into vulnerable employment conditions. Data has shown informal employment to be correlated with income per capita (negative), and poverty (positive) (ILO, 2011). Further, the jobs are precarious and volatile - affected by global economic crisis.  Women’s employment in Africa needs to be met with ‘decent’ work [1] , or women will be placed in risky conditions.  [1] See further readings: ILO, 2014.

Yes education may help to determine the extent to which labour participation empowers women but it is the participation itself that is the actual tool that empowers. A well-educated woman who is kept at home doing nothing is not empowered no matter how good her education might have been. In Saudi Arabia there are more women in university than men yet there is 36% unemployment for women against only 6% for men (Aluwaisheg, 2013). The women are educated, not empowered.

With the right to work within the productive sphere, the responsibility of care becomes shared. This may take some time but eventually equality will be the result. If you consider the changes occurring within the developed world - such as improved access to child-care facilities and the rise of stay at home dads, the integration of women into paid employment shows changes in gender roles. The double burden may occur temporarily, but in the long-run it will fade.

Within Gender and Development the importance of bringing men into the picture of gender discrimination has been recognised. Therefore working with men will change enable gender roles to be changed.

How we define empowerment is broad - encompassing all changes that women are able to make, through agency, to tackle their subordinate position. Therefore labour force participation does provide empowerment. Labour participation provides an opportunity for women to control household resources, demand rights, and organise for equal justice. There is no silver bullet, or objective, to achieve women’s empowerment.