FEMALE PARTICIPATION IN THE FORMAL SECTOR AND DEVELOPMENT IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Journal of Third World Studies, Fall 2003 by Njoh, Ambe J, Rigos, Platon N

One means by which economic productivity within an economy can be promoted is by ensuring that job vacancies are filled only by the most suitably qualified employees. The opportunity to promote productivity through this means is missed in countries which systematically exclude women from the job market. This is because to exclude from the labor market women or any group for that matter is to exclude some of the most capable and productive workers any country has to offer. Seen alternatively, when women as a group are systematically denied employment some of the jobs wind up in the hands of less qualified and/or less productive workers. Thus, the central revelation of the study reported here. Note that countries with a 'high' percentage of women in the formal labor sector invariably score higher than their counterparts on the human development index (HDI).

The findings are in line with those revealed in previous studies. For instance, Jacobson notes that while an increase in the income of a female parent within any given household is likely to translate into improved living standards, a similar increase in the income of a male parent does not guarantee a proportionate gain in the quality of life for the household.33 Jacobson supports her assertion by culling a case in point from Guatemala where a study revealed gains in the nutritional intake of children resulting from a rise in the incomes of female parents. It is simple to explicate this revelation. On the one hand, when men experience increased earnings, they are likely to spend the additional funds on luxury goods such as wrist watches, television sets, stereos and other electronic equipment. On the other hand, when women realize additional income, they are likely to spend the extra funds on highly nutritious food items such as meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products, that might have previously been out of their families' reach. Given such a revelation, it is easy to see how increasing female participation in the formal sector, hence the income of women, can result in improved scores on the HDI as suggested by the study reported in this article.

The findings can be appreciated from yet another perspective. Meaningful strategies to promote female participation in the formal labor market often entail vigorous efforts to reduce female illiteracy rates. A well-known cause of poverty amongst African women is illiteracy. As mentioned earlier on in this article, the education policies initiated during the colonial era, and vigorously maintained by indigenous authorities since the demise of colonialism, in African countries, have always been biased against women. Girls are often never enrolled in school, or when they are enrolled, they are at best compelled to deal with either frequent interruptions of their education career due to pregnancies and/or other extra-curricula activities. At worst, the education career of girls is often prematurely discontinued. In Nigeria, for example, girls are sometimes withdrawn from school to marry at the tender ages of 11 and 12.34 In addition, young Nigerian girls often spend a better part of their adult lives pregnant or breast feeding infants.35