Although there has been a steady increase in the
number of women in the working-age population, men continue to
participate in the labour market in greater numbers.
This is according to a gender series report released by Stats SA,
tracking trends and patterns of economic empowerment in areas related to
gender.
The report showed that levels of employment increased by 3.7-million
from 2001 to 2017. However, the number of employed men increased by
about 2.3-million, versus 1.3-million women.
As a result of the persisting unemployment levels among women, the
households headed by them were found to be the most likely to depend on
social grants. The number of recipients of child-support grants rose
from 9-million to 13-million from 2009 to 2017.
The highest levels of employment for women were among those 35 to 44
years old. Urban women were most likely to be in employment, with 35-to
44-year-olds having the highest participation at 80.2%.
There was a near equal number of men and women who owned bank
accounts and investment savings in 2016 and 2017. Women dominated the
informal savings space through stokvels at 65.1%.
The report noted an increase in the number of female-headed
households that owned formal dwellings from 2002 to 2017. This
improvement was observed in the Northern Cape, the Western Cape, Gauteng
and the Free State. This was partly due to increases in the provision
of housing subsidies by the government, the report said.
mahlakoanat@businesslive.co.za
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