Speak Wednesday

WOMEN IN LABOUR FORCE IN NIGERIA

WOMEN IN LABOUR FORCE IN NIGERIA

One of the most striking phenomena of recent times has been the extent to which women have increased their share of the labour force; the increasing participation of women in paid work has been driving employment trends and the gender gaps in labour force participation rates have been shrinking. Especially in the 1980s and early 1990s, labour force growth was substantially higher for women than for men for every region of the world except Africa. (UNPD, 2003). This problem is particularly marked in Northern Africa and the Arab States, where unemployment rates for women exceed 16%. (ILO, 2017).

While vulnerable employment is widespread for both women and men, women tend to be overrepresented in certain types of vulnerable jobs: men are more likely to be working in own-account employment while women are more likely to be helping out in their households or in their relatives’ businesses. From an economic perspective, reducing gender gaps in labour force participation could substantially boost global Gross domestic product (GDP). The regions with the largest gender gaps would see huge growth benefits. Many developed countries would also see their average annual GDP growth increase, which is significant during times of near-zero economic growth. (ILO, 2017).

A report by PwC Nigeria on “Impact of Women on Nigeria’s Economy” in 2020, have it that Nigeria ranked 128th out of 153 countries and 27th out of 53 countries in Africa, on the World Bank’s Global Gender Gap Index 2020. This means, Nigeria has a lot to do to curtail this. 2019 statistics by the World Bank reveals that women accounts for 48.52 per cent of labor force participation in Nigeria. Despite this figure, only about 12% of directors on corporate boards of directors are women. It is discouraging to know that since the history of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), there has been no woman leader.

The relatively lower economic position of women vis-a-vis men can be attributed to some of the prevailing factors such as:

1)            The historical discrimination against women in terms of output.

2)            The high rate of urbanization which is unmatched by the rate of urban demand for labor in the modern sector of the economy.

3)            Low level of female educational attainment and skills which restrict their entry into modern employment.

4)            The case of entry into informal sector activities such as petty trading with little capital outlay, flexibility of working hours and the ability to accommodate domestic roles as well as the independence attached to such activities.

5)            The widespread assumption that women’s roles in the household are supportive, hence their contributions and rewards in gainful employment are expected to be merely supplementary to those of the males who are supposed to be the bread winners. (Fadayomi, T., 1991)

The data is clear: women want to be in paid employment, but a persistent set of socio-economic barriers keep them out of the workforce. However, identifying and quantifying these barriers allows us to develop smarter policy responses for eliminating them.

Ultimately, closing gender gaps in the labour force is not just good for women and their households, but for the global economy as a whole.