Lerato Mbhiza
Black African women fare even worse with an unemployment rate of 39,8% in Q2:2023, which is higher than the national average and other population groups, according to Statistics South Africa.
Stats SA released its unemployment rate figures for the 2nd Quarter of 2023, which showed a slight decline to 32.6% from the 32.9% recorded in the 1st Quarter. The number of unemployed people also declined slightly, coming in at 7 921 000, it said.
However, according to Stats SA not only are Black African women battling to find employment, those who are employed are more likely to work in low-paying jobs in vulnerable conditions, and there is a slow improvement forecast for the future (ILO,2017).
According to the ILO, “vulnerable employment is a combination of ‘own account work’ and ‘contributing family work’ or unpaid household work, both defined as employment statuses that are associated with ‘low levels of development and high levels of poverty’. More women than men work as unpaid household members and women are less likely to be employers. In Q2:2023, only 3,3% of women were employers compared to 7,5% of men.
The report also said gender disparities in the labour market still exist and the light shown by these labour market estimates echoes the need to accelerate the enhancement of women’s overall participation in employment, access to more opportunities across economic sectors and addressing job gaps that go beyond unemployment.
Work is the most effective economic empowerment strategy for women. Women’s labour market participation must consequently be increased. Improving gender equality has numerous positive effects on both individual persons and society.
According to an expanded definition of unemployment that includes those discouraged from seeking work, 42.1% of the labour force was without work in the second quarter, compared with 42.4% in the first quarter.
Further the Stats SA said, participation rate was highest among South Africans aged 35 to 44 years (78,8%), young people aged 15-24 had the lowest labour force participation rate at 27,2%. The labour force participation rate for women was largest in the age group 35-44 at 72,7%.
Compared to the same period last year, 73,000 more people in South Africa have jobs. In total, 16 million people in the country are now employed.
The survey also reveals that 142,000 more people joined the workforce in the April to May period.
This, however, is 12% points less than that of men in the same age group.
The report stated that across all age groups, women are less likely to be in the labour force compared to men. The largest labour force participation gap was in the age group 45-54 at 15,5 percentage points. Female labour force participation showed an increase in all age groups between Q2:2022 and Q2:2023.
“At a global level, the unemployment rate for women remains higher than that of men; youth unemployment rates are much higher than adults; and young women’s unemployment rate tends to be higher than young men,” Stats SA said.
According to the report South Africa continues to grapple with persistently high levels of unemployment, with the burden of joblessness being carried by women and young people. The official unemployment rate in Q2:2023 was 32,6%, a decline of 0,3 of a percentage point from the 32,9% recorded in Q1:2023.
Unemployment numbers for women remain higher than the national average, with 35,7% of South African women in the labour force currently without work and actively looking for work. This is an increase of 0,3 of a percentage point quarter-on-quarter,
0,2 of a percentage point year-on-year. The burden of unemployment is more pronounced for women as the unemployment rate for men indicates a continued decline of 0,7 of a percentage point quarter-on-quarter, and 2,6 percentage points year-on-year.
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