While we remember the bravery of the women of ’56 today, we cannot ignore the many struggles women are still experiencing in 2022. As we celebrate the women of this country, Women’s Month comes as a reminder and opportunity for many of us to rethink how we can create better economic and social reality for women.
Women in South Africa are facing many socio-economic problems, including the scourge of gender-based violence plaguing the country. However, the dire economic exclusion of women from the workforce lays a foundation for such grave occurrences, and if addressed urgently, could help create a freer country that works for women too.
We know that the effects of high unemployment among all demographics on country, company and community are harrowing, but the consequences of unemployment among women are of much higher stakes, and will have disastrous ramifications for generations to come.
Black women are still the most vulnerable demographic. Comparing expanded unemployment rates (Quarterly Labour Force Survey Q1:2022) among women of different races, 49% of black women are unemployed, juxtaposed against white women, among which 12.5% are unemployed. 34.7% of coloured women and 32% of Indian women are unemployed.
With 42% of households in South Africa being women-run and 6.25 million women (49%) being unemployed, it is a matter of urgency that we include women in the economy so that households are run, children are fed and educated, and the elderly are looked after with dignity.
Addressing the dated plight: Women living in a man’s world
Although there has been immense progress across the world when it comes to women’s rights, the varied gaps between men and women are still alarming. Globally, women are still subjected to far fewer opportunities where they count the most, such as in education and employment, as well as socially and politically. Gender inequality has morphed as the world has moved forward, and continues to present itself in both new and old ways.
The World Bank reports that on average, women are 1.5 times less likely to take part in the labour force. Globally, women performed an estimated US $31.8 trillion in consumer spending in 2019, according to World Data Lab, and this number is growing. However, 89% of women across the world reported controlled or shared buying decisions, as opposed to 41% of men (Baldwin Tong, The Annual Spending Power Gender Gap: North America).
Despite the gap in buying power, the effects of an unemployed demographic whose buying power is growing could have ramifications for your business, how you shape your products and services, and most importantly, how this market will buy them.
Valuing women as resources in professional spaces gives potential for improved and more sound business decisions and practices. As the world moves towards more sustainable practices and productivity in industries, it only makes good sense to fairly include women.
Gender budgeting
More and more legislations have been employed in South African institutions, corporates and spaces that are meant to bridge the various gaps between men and women, especially in the professional fields. There are ministries and legislations dedicated to seeing to the progress of this course. The National Development Plan (NDP), for example, has encouraged local government to be more inclusive of women at representative levels and put in more effort at shaping budgetary priorities. However, to date, we still see forms of discrimination in many of the workplace and employment practices.
- Women are most affected by unemployment (expanded definition): averaging 8.1% higher than men
- The gender pay gap in South Africa ranges from 23% - 35%
- The global gender pay gap sits on 20%
- Globally, women are 26% less likely to be employed than men
The above stats make it more critical than ever to employ progressive systems and policies. The World Bank has noted these steps as a way to introduce gender budgeting:
- Make it a legal matter: Providing gender budgeting with legal status.
- Female leadership in financial departments is important.
- Align goals with national gender equality plans or the Sustainable Development Goals – see how YES can help you achieve this.
Including the above measures into your business’ everyday practices can not only impact the course for gender equality but will have ripple effects both in the economy and in the progress of your organisation.
These are a few of the aspects that contribute to your sustainable strategies and goals that ultimately make your corporation stand out in its industry and beyond. The Youth Employment Service (YES) is gazetted to help you achieve your sustainable plans through employing unemployed youth. YES also enables any business – exempted micro enterprises (EMEs), qualifying small enterprises (QSEs), or generic enterprises – to enhance its B-BBEE score by one or two levels, simply by providing jobs for young, unemployed black people, most especially women, through YES.
“We must empower women and expand their choices. We must respect and value the diversity of women. We must recognise that some women face additional barriers to equality because of their race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.” Sheila Finestone, former Senator of Canada.
Where does your company come in?
YES is a business-driven not-for-profit that works in partnership with companies, labour and government to tackle youth unemployment in South Africa by providing 12-month quality work experiences (QWEs) to unemployed youth. Join over 2,200 corporates signed on to YES to change youth lives. It takes one salary in the hand of a woman to change the lives of many others in this country.
1. Aim to improve reporting and transparency
Using an integrated YES programme approach (such as our turnkey solution) gives you convenient access to regular reporting provided by YES, which enables you to keep a close eye on the development of the youth you have invested in, as well as monitor and evaluate gender budgeting efforts or collect gender disaggregated data.
2. Build skills
The YES QWE aims to enable employment and increase employability for South African youth through future facing opportunities and critical on-the-job skills needed to progress youth.
3. Collaborate
Benefit from a win-win-win strategy as corporates potentially gain up to two full levels on the B-BBEE scorecard and/or achieve environmental, social and governmental (ESG) strategies and reporting, as well as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Gender equality has become a critical key to both economic and sustainable development goals. Sustained economic growth will most likely be seen through technological innovation, equal inclusion, and higher productivity levels from a labour perspective within the country. The World Bank states that global wealth has the potential of increasing by $172 trillion if women could have the same lifetime earnings as men.
Of course women can. With YES, women do.
58% of YES Youth are women, and 91% of YES Youth have dependents. Through YES, thousands of women are being placed in positions such as data capturers, business process outsourcing roles, cyber security agents, digital artisans, drone pilots, content creators and software developers.
These future-facing sectors can help South Africa emerge as a leading nation in an age of technology, and develop women to become multipliers: leaders who continue the cycle of creating, making and building for themselves and one another.
Take for instance, Siyasanga Msiwa, a 23-year-old woman who, with YES’s help, became the first female forklift driver in the history of Bearing Man Group (BMG). Msiwa is ambitious, driven, and humble. “I was always drawn to being a woman in a role that tends to be more male-oriented,” she said. “So, I grabbed the opportunity to bring something different to the company, experiment, gain experience and have fun while going at it."
Or current YES Youth Zanele Nyabane, who has started a side-hustle while also completing her YES programme with VW and Afrika Tikkun. Before this work experience came along, Zanele was desperate to get any experience under her belt. She began volunteering her services at local organisations free of charge, where she was recycling and farming. Here, she came across Afrika Tikkun and was offered a position in the YES programme after three months. “I started working in the sales department at VW where I managed to achieve sales on cars, I am currently working in the service department as a booking clerk and I’m also a switch board reliever,” explained Zanele. Despite her hard work during the week, Zanele used her YES salary to start a laundry services business which operates on the weekends for extra income and experience, and hopes to eventually employ people. Zanele says, “I am never overwhelmed by my duties because I love helping people, I have grown to be matured and hardworking. I look back at my mistakes and challenge myself.” With this attitude and grit, we know Zanele will be growing her side hustle into a fully-fledged business in no time.
And finally, YES Alumna Nolthando Mokoena, who, before her YES programme with host partner ITVarsity, was grieving the loss of her only guardian, her grandfather, and struggling to raise her precious baby girl without a degree and a stable income. Not only did Nolthando learn in-demand skills such as coding using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, but after the programme she was permanently absorbed as head of student services. She’s also gone on to register her own business, EmpowerHER, which motivates and supports young women. The goal of the organisation is to create nation builders out of the girls. She’s even hired her first employee! “I had given up on studying and fulfilling my dreams,” said Nolthando. “South Africans need opportunities like these, and we need companies like YES to continue to drive this change in our lives.”
Join the movement
Despite the disadvantages they have experienced, YES’s young women continue to prove that they are more than capable to participate in and create impact in South African professional setups and societies at large. Working towards an improved and promising tomorrow, for all, has never been easier.
Amendment to the Gazette