Decades of work and hard-won gains into achieving gender equality in the labour market in South Africa could be derailed by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is according to a research paper by the Southern African Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Lead author Dr Jacqueline Mosomi said that the paper, “Unpacking the potential implications of COVID-19 for gender inequality in the SA labour market”, studied the industries adversely affected by the pandemic – and in turn, what this means for gender equality in the labour market.
Since the onset of democracy, Dr Mosomi said, women have made significant progress in the labour market. Research indicates that the gender wage gap improved from 40% in 1994 to 16% in 2014. But as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown, these gains hang in the balance.
“Because of the nature of the occupations women are in, they are at a higher risk of losing their source of income.”
“Because of the nature of the occupations women are in, they are at a higher risk of losing their source of income. They are also more likely to be exposed to the virus when compared [with] men,” Mosomi said.
Affected industries
According to Mosomi, in the past, global financial crises have unintentionally reduced gender inequality in the labour market – only because they have impacted male-dominated industries more than industries dominated by women. However, the health risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic set it apart from past economic downturns.
She noted that the pandemic and lockdown have directly affected some of the largest employment industries for women in the country. Four key sectors which employ mainly women have been hardest hit. These include the services sector, which employs approximately 31% of all employed women; followed by the trade, finance and domestic worker sectors, which employ 22%, 15% and 14% of women respectively.
“One concern is that the COVID-19 pandemic may undermine access to income for women – and black women, in particular – more so than for men. This is because female employment is clustered in the services sector, adversely affected by the health and safety protocols implemented to reduce infection,” she said.
This could be a major setback for gender equality in the labour market, she added.
Unpacking the findings
Mosomi said that because Level 5 of the nationwide lockdown required a complete shutdown of services, with the exception of essential workers, more women experienced loss of income, compared with men.
The research indicated that 66.48% of employed women were not classified as essential services staff, compared with 59.05% of employed men. And because of the nature of their jobs, these women could not work from home, resulting in a loss of income.
“[Many of] the essential services categories – like mining, construction, plant machine operators and protective services – are male-dominated industries.”
“This is largely because [many of] the essential services categories – like mining, construction, plant machine operators and protective services – are male-dominated industries,” she said.
On the other hand, the study revealed that other occupations dominated by women are reported to leave women 16% more at risk of contracting infectious diseases, such as COVID-19. Roughly 23% of the jobs occupied by women are directly exposed to infectious disease, compared with 7% of the jobs occupied by men.
The data demonstrates that aside from making up most of the domestic workers and primary school teachers in the country, women also make up 78% of personal care workers, 92% of home-based care workers, 57% of doctors, 87% of nurses, 76% of medical assistants and 47% of pharmacists.
“The implications here for women who continued to work throughout the hard lockdown because they were classified as essential services staff, [is that] they were – and still are – more exposed to the virus,” Mosomi said.
Job losses
Previous research by the National Income Dynamics Study – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) indicated that a whopping 67% of the jobs lost during lockdown Level 5 were occupied by women. According to Statistics South Africa, in the first two quarters of 2020 the services sector shed 515 000 jobs, followed by the trade sector (373 000), the domestic worker sector (311 000), the finance sector (283 000), the construction sector (278 000) and the manufacturing sector (250 000).
“Of great concern is that even with the easing of lockdown restrictions under Level 3 of lockdown, employment numbers didn’t improve significantly.”
“These sectors are dominated by women. Of great concern is that even with the easing of lockdown restrictions under Level 3 of lockdown, employment numbers didn’t improve significantly,” Mosomi added.
“With this as a reality, a major concern for us is that the progress that has been made towards reducing gender inequality in the labour market over the last 20 years will be held back. We need to work very hard to turn the tanker around.”
Researchers have committed to keeping a close eye on this area, and will track any progress or regress made.
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COVID-19 is a global pandemic that caused President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare a national disaster in South Africa on 15 March 2020 and to implement a national lockdown from 26 March 2020. UCT is taking the threat of infection in our university community extremely seriously, and this page will be updated with the latest COVID-19 information. Please note that the information on this page is subject to change depending on current lockdown regulations.
Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, has in June 2022 repealed some of South Africa’s remaining COVID-19 regulations: namely, sections 16A, 16B and 16C of the Regulations Relating to the Surveillance and the Control of Notifiable Medical Conditions under the National Health Act. We are now no longer required to wear masks or limit gatherings. Venue restrictions and checks for travellers coming into South Africa have now also been removed.
On Wednesday, 20 July, staff from the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Faculty of Health Sciences came together with representatives from the Western Cape Government at the UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre at Forest Hill Residence to acknowledge the centre’s significance in the fight against COVID-19 and to thank its staff for their contributions. The centre opened on 1 September 2021 with the aim of providing quality vaccination services to UCT staff, students and the nearby communities, as well as to create an opportunity for medical students from the Faculty of Health Sciences to gain practical public health skills. The vaccination centre ceased operations on Friday, 29 July 2022.
With the closure of the UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre, if you still require access to a COVID-19 vaccination site please visit the CovidComms SA website to find an alternative.
“After almost a year of operation, the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Community of Hope Vaccination Centre, located at the Forest Hill residence complex in Mowbray, will close on Friday, 29 July 2022. I am extremely grateful and proud of all staff, students and everyone involved in this important project.”
– Vice-Chancellor Prof Mamokgethi PhakengWith the closure of the UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre, if you still require access to a COVID-19 vaccination site please visit the CovidComms SA website to find an alternative.
UCT’s Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM) collaborated with Global Citizen, speaking to trusted experts to dispel vaccine misinformation.
If you have further questions about the COVID-19 vaccine check out the FAQ produced by the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation (DTHF). The DTHF has developed a dedicated chat function where you can ask your vaccine-related questions on the bottom right hand corner of the website.
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