Experts discuss women’s workforce challenges
In a powerful gathering experts and leaders came together to tackle the persistent barriers hindering womens economic progress in South Africa, sparking a vital conversation on the path to true inclusion.
The Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator hosted a significant event at Villa Arcadia, Hollard Campus, on August 21, focusing on Strategic Levers for Women’s Economic Inclusion: Overcoming Workforce Challenges and Creating Inclusive Opportunities.
The event aimed to address the ongoing difficulties young women in South Africa face when entering and remaining in the workforce, especially in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Led by Sharmi Surianarain, Harambee’s chief impact officer, the event highlighted stark statistics. South Africa’s labour market shows a marked gender disparity – 2.5m young women are employed compared to 3.3m men. The unemployment rate for young women is 57%, while for young men it is 49%. Despite being generally more educated –10% more likely to pass matric and 70% more likely to hold a degree – young women face higher barriers to entering the labour market and earn significantly less than their male counterparts.
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Discussions revealed the impact of these inequalities. Women who are employed often face an earnings penalty, making about 6% less than men in similar roles. This equates to a loss of R3 240 annually on a starting salary of R4 500, potentially resulting in a lifetime loss of nearly R129 600 – enough to cover two years at a top South African university or a substantial portion of a home down payment.
Economist and labour market expert Lerato Shai, along with the chief researcher at the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit Ariane De Lannoy, emphasised that investing in women’s economic inclusion benefitted everyone. Research shows that women reinvest 90% of their income into their families, compared to 30–40% by men. This highlights the need to remove barriers to women’s job market access, as their success has widespread positive effects.
The event also stressed the need for targeted interventions to promote gender inclusion in emerging sectors such as the digital and green economies, which offer new job opportunities. Challenges faced by young women include the increasing average age of first job acquisition, spatial exclusion, and education disparities.
The event fostered meaningful dialogue with attendees sharing perspectives on creating a more inclusive economy for women. It highlighted the importance of collective effort and innovative strategies in addressing economic exclusion and inequality, serving as a call to action for stakeholders to work together to break down barriers for young women in the workforce.
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