Gendered analysis will help programmes understand patterns of care work and identify how unpaid care affects women’s participation in and ability to benefit from markets. Time, mobility and agency are all important factors for women’s participation in and ability to benefit from markets. Time poverty affects their ability to participate in community or cooperative decision-making bodies, while time poverty affects their ability to buy labour-saving equipment. (Yorke et al., 2023, 1 – 22) explores the extent to which intersecting inequalities in rural areas disempower young women, and how migration and education become important strategies for improving their lives. It also reflects on how the ability of rural young women to achieve better futures is limited due to their status as poor, rural, female migrants, and how many wait in the city in the hope of a better future. Increasing numbers of rural girls and young women in Ethiopia are migrating to urban towns and cities and taking up employment as domestic workers.
As reported by (Yorke et al., 2023, 1 – 22) poverty and hardship in rural communities, with limited access to basic resources such as food, water and electricity impacted girls and women due to economic inequalities and restrictive gender norms. Domestic work was seen as the primary responsibility of girls and women, making it even more onerous. Economic inequalities and gender norms negatively impact rural girls and women, leaving them vulnerable to poverty and disempowerment. Migration provides the opportunity to escape these inequalities and pursue better futures in the city. As stated by (Yorke et al., 2023, 1 – 22) education and employment was seen as a pathway to greater social and economic mobility and girls and women viewed economic inequalities as the main factor underpinning their unequal status, so becoming financially independent through education and employment was seen as the key route to empowerment. But (Yorke et al., 2023, 1 – 22) also discovered in his report that girls and women who migrated in urban households faced significant inequalities such as limited access to resources and constrained agency, which negatively impacted their achievements and wellbeing. They are reported to have heavy work burdens, limited access to basic resources, and negative emotional and psychological impacts, such as verbal and emotional abuse.
(Yorke et al., 2023, 1–22) highlighted the need to reevaluate constrained notions of empowerment focused on involvement in education and employment and to return to a focus on the power structures that restrict the opportunities and outcomes of various groups of women. The findings of (Yorke et al, 2023, 1–22) have implications for policy and practise such as challenging the ‘family-like relationship’ between domestic workers and employers, promote viable employment opportunities for various groups of women, and strengthen efforts to address the double-work burden experienced by women. Besides (Admasu et al., 2021)examined variables affecting Ethiopia’s unpaid domestic work and transitions from education to the labour market and found that both men and women perform significant amounts of unpaid work, but women still do less paid work.
Young women’s access to decent employment in rural areas is limited, and they are less likely to be in paid employment than young men at the same age. Admasu et al. argued that the country context plays a determining role in the prospects for young women’s ability to attain good quality education and enter the labour market. (Admasu et al., 2021) reported that gender disparity in labour market participation in Ethiopia showed women’s work is uncounted in the current System of National Accounts definition of labour, and women still undertake less paid work. According to (Admasu et al., 2021) social and migration networks are key drivers of young people’s transitions. Marriage at a younger age is also a key driver of women leaving the labour force.with young women’s employment opportunities still limited.
Social norms are also a factor in determining female labour force participation(FLFP), as women allocate a substantial amount of time to activities that are not traditionally considered economic ‘activities’, such as household chores and caring for other household members. (Admasu et al., 2021) findings suggest that a careful micro-approach to investigating the determinants of FLFP can contribute and educational attainment plays an important role in the probability of being in paid labour for both male and female individuals.
Gender inequality is a major obstacle to human development in developing countries, where power structures are still overwhelmingly male-dominated and patriarchal. Bargaining power is used to understand gender inequality, as it is the agency of young women to make decisions within their marital relations and households. Increased bargaining power has been correlated with better outcomes in terms of health and education. (Chuta, 2017) in his study focuses on bargaining power as a women’s agency due to its strong association with household-level dynamics and gender relations and examined the factors that affect young married women’s bargaining power in marriage and parenthood in Ethiopia.
(Chuta, 2017) argues that intra-household, social-institutional, and individual factors interact to shape young women’s agency towards bargaining power and results showed that girls raised in rural areas and households with lower incomes had a higher likelihood of getting married by 19 years old. (Chuta, 2017) suggests that policies and programs aimed at reducing gender inequality at the intra-household level should take into account the broader contexts in which households are situated, including how cultural beliefs and norms shape marital practices, gender and generational relations, and decision-making.
As reported by (Chuta, 2017) the changes in the bargaining power of a group of young married women before and after marriage was ana;ysed and three main messages from the analysis were that intra-household, social-institutional and individual factors intertwine to shape young women’s agency in different contexts and social status and the urban girl exhibited better agency in bargaining, while the rural women had limited bargaining power due to limited life choices and household shocks. Further more (Tadesse et al., 2020, 2348 – 3997) examined the factors that affect rural women’s participation in agricultural activities and discovered that farm income had a positive and significant impact on this participation. This finding suggests that aid and subsidised inputs should be made available to female households. As reported by (Tadesse et al., 2020, 2348 – 3997)rural women’s participation had a significant impact on age, educational attainment, farm income, contacts with development agents, and market accessibility.
Micro, Small and Medium Industries (MSSIs) are essential for developing countries to eradicate poverty and improve living standards. Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Sub Saharan Africa due to its high population growth and other related factors. To address these issues, Ethiopia implemented structural adjustment for decentralisation and practised market oriented economies to enhance private sectors. Ethiopia has formulated a National Micro and Small Scale Enterprise (MSSE) Development and Promotion Strategy to foster the capacity of women entrepreneurship and business ownership. (Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, 2016). In line with this (Agenssa & Premanandam, 2021, 1342 – 1354) assessed the general ownership participation of women in micro and small scale enterprises (MSSEs) in Hawassa, Ethiopia and found that MSSEs helped women become business owners and increase their income.
MSSEs are absorbing the labour forces of the less educated, unemployed youths, women, men, they are contributing to increasing income of women and youths involved in the sector and fastening urban development. However, they are facing multi-dimensional problems such as lack of working capitals shortages and poor qualities of raw materials, lack of markets, lack of improved technology, inadequate and shortage of working premises, high interest rates and high collateral requirements with regard to this (Agenssa & Premanandam, 2021, 1342 – 1354) recommended that the government and non-governmental organisations support MSSEs in providing better technologies at reasonable prices.
According to (Tadesse et al., 2020, 2348 – 3997), the amount of education (years of schooling) and age of the women have a positive and negative relationship with the level of women’s participation in agricultural activity. The main causes of low participation were a lack of labour force and husbands’ preference to stay at home. Education increases human capital and improves rural women’s abilities to engage in agricultural activities. An important determinant of the costs associated with rural women’s participation in agricultural activities is human capital development through education. According to (Tadesse et al., 2020, 2348 – 3997), rural infrastructure, particularly road accessibility, is essential for the development of sustainable agriculture. Rural women’s participation is greatly improved and expanded by education and development organisations have reorganised their service delivery methods to ensure that rural women are treated equally.
References
Admasu, Y., Crivello, G., & Porter, C. (2021). Young women’s transitions from education to the labour market in Ethiopia. A gendered life-course perspective,” WIDER Working Paper, 96.
Agenssa, W. A., & Premanandam, D. P. (2021). Impact of Micro and Small Scale Enterprises on Improving Socio-Economic Status of Women in Ethiopia: The Case of Hawassa City. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 8(2), 1342-1354.
Chuta, N. (2017). Young Women’s Household Bargaining Power in Marriage and Parenthood in Ethiopia. Young Lives, 166.
Tadesse, H., Melese, M., & Tamene, N. (2020). Determinants of Rural Women Participation in Agriculture Activities in Gurage Zone, Ethiopia. International Journal of Research in Agricultural Sciences, 7(2), 2348 – 3997.
Yorke, L., Gilligan, R., & Alemu, E. (2023). Moving towards empowerment? Rural female migrants negotiating domestic work and secondary education in urban Ethiopia. Gender, Place & Culture, 1 – 22.
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