A person is regarded as being unemployed if he/she:

·         Has not worked during the seven days prior to being interviewed by Statistics South Africa;

·         Wants to work, and is available to start work within a week of being interviewed;

·         Has taken active steps to look for work or to provide themselves with self-employment in the four weeks preceding the interview.

·         Has not actively looked for work in the past four weeks but had a job or business to start at a definite date in the future.

The economically active population includes all persons between the ages of 15 and 65 years who were working, or were unemployed, and excludes those who were not available for work.

This means that a jobless person and an unemployed person are not necessarily the same. If a person does not meet the criteria stated in the definition of unemployment, he or she is regarded as not being economically active, and falls in the “Not economically active population” together with students, children, pensioners, and other people who are neither employed nor unemployed.

In order to continue with the analysis of the disparities between men and women in rural and urban municipalities, the City of Cape Town and the Capricorn District Municipality are used as examples.

There were more women employed than men in only four out of the 283 district municipalities. These municipalities are the OR Tambo and the Alfred Nzo district municipalities in the Eastern Cape, and the Umkhanyakude and Sisonke district municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal.

The population in the City of Cape Town is made up of 48% men and 52% women. Some 572 798 women were employed, whereas there were 677 933 men employed in the metro. This means that 46% of people who were employed in the metro were women, and 54% were men. The number of women who were unemployed was 217 855, while the number of men who were unemployed was 187 522. Of the unemployed population, 54% were women and 46% were men. Women also made up the bulk of the population regarded as not being economically active in the metro. Some 419 409 or 62% of the “not economically active population” were women, whereas only 257 980 or 38% were men.

These disparities are similar to those in the Capricorn District Municipality. The population in the district is made up of 46% men and 54% women. In the district, some 88 960 women were employed, whereas there were 96 937 men employed. This means that 48% of people who were employed in the district were women, and 52% were men. The number of women who were unemployed was 70 228, while the number of men who were unemployed was 54 673. Of the unemployed population, 56% were women and 44% were men. Some 208 299 or 59% of the “not economically active population” were women, whereas only 146 555 or 41% were men.

The above analysis shows that, contrary to common speculation, the opportunities for employment for women are similar in rural and urban areas.

Next in the series of newsletters focusing on gender inequalities, is a review of the level of education and the type of educational institutions attended by men and women.

- Nthamaga Kgafela