Precarious work in Africa
21 September, 2015
Source:
PSI
Globally, studies have shown that initial impact of the global economic crisis on employment, left over 27 million people without work. Where jobs are available, precarious employments have replaced standardized employments. Women are disproportionately affected by these precarious employments.
On daily basis, women are faced with the “triple burden”. Women’s roles as mothers, as workers and as community advocates continue to exert untold hardship on them.
While it is not only the women who suffer the consequences of precarious work, their families and communities also have their share. As governments around the world, including in Africa decreased social spending, services such as health care, child care and elderly care have become unavailable or unaffordable, increasing the burden for women. Further to this, trade policies do not traditionally include a gender analysis that could shed more light into their potential negative impacts on women, families and communities before agreements are negotiated.
The reality is that globalization, and the various policies and structures that support it, have contributed to the feminization of poverty. Under global economics, women have an increased work burden, a decrease in compensation for their labour, and growing health risks associated with poor working conditions and stress, which have all had a negative impact on women globally.
This PSI report was prepared in cooperation with Moradeke Abiodun-Badru, Nigerian National Union of Midwives and Nurses
