Women Equitable Access to Labour Market in Ethiopia

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Breaking Barriers: Ensuring Ethiopian Women Equitable Access to the Labour Market

In Ethiopia women account for more than half of the total population. However, when it comes to access to resources and opportunities they are disproportionately represented. Due to the existing gender norms in a society that determines roles assignment,  women are mostly assigned to reproductive activities including, childbearing, caring and indoor domestic chores which are by far labour intensive and time consuming. In addition to this the domestic chores in which women usually engage are unrecognised and unpaid. Whereas, men usually engage in productive activities including production of goods and services from which they generate an income. This in turn resulted in power relation imbalance between men and women whereby men assume decision making roles and women are submissive to it.

Women’s access to the labour market is thus influenced by the gendered task classification which is deeply rooted in patriarchal social structures in which women are assigned to labour intensive domestic chores and men to the productive activities including employment. This in turn negatively affected women’s choices and time allocation among paid and unpaid productive and household activities that lead them to time poverty. As a result, women in Ethiopia are challenged with lack of access to formal employment sectors, lack of decision making, lack of economic sovereignty, and dependence on their husband (during marriage) and on their family.

 

How to tackle the frontiers? Working on the way forward

Women’s access to the labour market is determined by their level of educational attainment and skills acquired. Women in Ethiopia are adversely affected by gender based role classification which largely inhibits them from accessing various socio-economic opportunities including education and engagement in alternative income generating activities. There are various contributing factors including, cultural gender bias, non-participatory policy framework, illiteracy, and lack of adequate information(Gizachew et al, 2017). 

Lack of access to formal employment leads the majority of women to look for alternative employment opportunities including engagement in informal labour markets. Informal income generation is small scale activities that are semi-organised and unregulated by their nature, using simple labour intensive technology. They are mostly operated by artisans, and traders. The activity operated in open yards, market stalls, undeveloped plots, residential houses, and street work sites(ILO, 1972). They are not legally registered and in most cases do not have licences from local authorities to carry out their business. As a result, they are exposed to conflict with law enforcement organs. 

Unlike the formal sector in which women’s percentage is very low, women are saturated in the informal sectors and they mostly engage in selling vegetables, fruits, enjera, charcoal, traditional drinks, secondhand clothes, handicrafts, and in some exceptional scenarios, engaging in illegal activities to earn means of life (Wondimu et al, 2022). women engaged in the informal sector, particularly street vending, are vulnerable to shocks and security issues. Some of the products they sell in ‘Gullit’ including tomatoes and onions, are exposed to spoilage, and thereby they won’t be able to cover their daily lives(Desyalew et al, 2016).Moreover, lack of a conducive working environment,  lack of access to formal financial services or credit, and limited supply and low demand for their products negatively affected women’s engagement in the informal sector and minimised their prospects for business expansion(Sebsib, 2015). 

Women’s experiences in the informal economy

Informal employment refers to informal jobs and is growing rapidly globally, particularly in developing countries. It is characterised by vulnerability due to lack of health and safety legislation, lack of benefits, and limited access to resources. Women dominate the informal economy, with lower wages and exposure to risks. Addressing these conditions requires a gendered approach, including social protection, occupational safety, and access to child care. Addressing female informal workers’ living and working conditions contributes to poverty reduction, as it improves their productivity, income, and overall economic growth. Gender inequity in the informal economy must be considered in development planning to aid effectiveness.(Bertulfo, 2011)

Low wages and high poverty risks are faced by women working in the informal economy. Since they are more likely to work in unpaid domestic jobs, there is less access to formal and labour market segmentation. Despite the low pay and unstable nature of the majority of the paid informal work done by women, both in developed and developing nations, it can help keep a family out of poverty. 

Domestic workers in Ethiopia, 90% of whom are women, face a variety of obstacles in their employment in the informal sector. Feminization of domestic work, perception of domestic work as unproductive employment, gender-based discrimination, and limited worker bargaining power are among these issues. Domestic labour is also associated with traditional women’s roles as mothers and wives, with little monetary compensation. Accordingly domestic work is given no legal protection and considered as external to the productive/formal economy.

4 factors that affect women’s equitable access to the labour market

    1. Gendered task classification: Women in Ethiopia are dominantly engaged in the informal sector including domestic working  and underrepresented in the formal employment sector.
  • Time poverty: 
  1. Lack of education and skills: Women engagement in the informal sectors is surrounded by various challenges among which domestic violence and unregulated business relationships are the major ones.
  2. Lack of effective policy intervention: Domestic workers are still out of reach of government regulation and employment regime as a result exposed to labour exploitation, unfair pay and sexual based violences.

 

Key Points

  1. Gendered task classification, time poverty, lack of education and skills, lack of effective policy intervention are found to be the main contributing factors that affect women’s equitable access to the labour market.
  2. Women in Ethiopia are dominantly engaged in the informal sector including domestic working  and underrepresented in the formal employment sector.
  3. Women engagement in the informal sectors is surrounded by various challenges among which domestic violence and unregulated business relationships are the major ones.
  4. Domestic workers are still out of reach of government regulation and employment regime as a result exposed to labour exploitation, unfair pay and sexual based violences.

 

Conclusion

Generally, culturally defined and socially constructed task classification among female and male limited women’s access to the formal labour market. Women’s engagement in labour intensive and time consuming tasks and domestic chores, limited their access to educational opportunities thereby constraining their access to productive activities. Due to lack of access to formal employment opportunities, women dominate in the informal sector which is highly volatile to domestic violence, business loss and an unconducive working environment. 

 

What should be done on the way forward?Recommendation

 

  1. Intervention shall be made to create awareness on gendered task classification, particularly targeting men so that they can be part of the solution.
  2. To ensure women equitable Labour force participation, a specific target shall be made to empower women to access and control over resources, provide women with alternative labour saving technologies, enable women to have decision making power and reduce their time poverty.
  3. Legal stipulation shall be in place to regulate domestic workers, the form of contract, working hours, living conditions, leave, and equitable pay.
  4. Efforts shall be made to reduce gender pay gap. Such can be successful through skill development, training, vocational education of women and addressing segregation in the labour market.
  5. Alleviating institutional, cultural, and political hindrances against equitable pay to improve the current unequal treatment at a workplace. 

 

Further readings

 

https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_emp/documents/instructionalmaterial/wcms_243015.pdf

 

Reference

  1. Gizachew G, Mulugeta W, and Yaekob T (2017) ‘Determinants of Women Unemployment: Evidence From Ethiopia (Case Of Halabatown, SNNPR)’. International Journal of Development Research 7.
  2. International Labour Organisation (1972)
  3. Wondimu H, Delelegn W and Dejene K (2022) ‘What do female-headed households’ livelihood strategies in Jimma city, Southwest Ethiopia look like from the perspective of the sustainable livelihood approach?’ Cogent Social Sciences, 8(1) 
  4. Desyalew Mekonen, K., Paulos Genetu, Y. and Meseret Legese, F. (2016) ‘Women’s Livelihood in the Informal Sector: Analysis of Micro Sellers or “Gullit” in Addis Ababa City, Ethiopia’, 6(8).
  5. Sebsib H.W (2015). ‘Women in The Informal Sector: Retrospect’s And Socioeconomic Response in Dessie Town, Ethiopia: The Case of Parallel Trading’. International Journal of Developing Societies 4 (2): 85–94
  6. Bertulfo L (2011) Women and the informal economy.

Further readings

 

https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_emp/documents/instructionalmaterial/wcms_243015.pdf

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