Newsletter 40 – No education, no work – 25 September 2009
The previous two newsletters focused on gender inequalities at local government. This week’s newsletter looks at the levels of education of women and men which, in general, informs the type of jobs people should have and the income they should earn. This is the third newsletter in the series looking at gender inequalities. As with the previous two newsletters, the City of Cape Town and the Capricorn District Municipality are used as examples.
In both the City of Cape Town and the Capricorn District Municipality, the question of whether women are less educated than men, is complicated. In both municipalities, there were more women than men with matric, however, there were also more women than men who had no schooling in 2007.
Level of education of people aged 20 years or older by gender and district municipality, 2007
Municipality | No schooling | Grade 12 | Certificate or diploma | Degree or higher | ||||
Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | |
City of Cape Town | 22600 | 21044 | 218230 | 249786 | 98247 | 116982 | 104894 | 91363 |
Capricorn District Municipality | 21984 | 67435 | 39596 | 52006 | 22466 | 29785 | 10241 | 11416 |
Source: Statistics South Africa, 2007 Community Survey | ||||||||
Some 48% of the population in the City of Cape Town are men, while 52% are women. Of the people who had no schooling, 48% were women and 52% were men. Some 53% of people with grade 12 as their highest level of education were women, while 47% were men. Of those with a certificate or diploma, some 54% were women and 46% were men. However, among people with a degree or higher qualification, there were more men than women. Some 47% of them were women, and 53% of them were men.
The population in the Capricorn district is made up of 46% men and 54% women. There were three times more women without any schooling than men in the district. Women made up 75% of people aged 20 years or older with no schooling, while men made up only 25% of the group. There were however more women with matric than there were men, with women constituting 57% and men 43%. Some 57% of people with a diploma or certificate were women, while 43% were men. Of those with a degree or higher qualification, 53% were women and 47% were men.
This then leaves the question of why there were more men than women in both municipalities who were employed, and more women than men were unemployed or not economically active. (Refer to newsletter 39 dated 18th September 2009)
This, and other questions relating to manifestations of poverty including gender inequality, is among the topics covered in the research collated and analysed by the Municipal Outreach Project.
The Project aims to provide extensive research to municipalities covered by the project. This will be done by means of publications, the project website, and workshops. A monthly publication called Fast Facts for Local Government (F3LG) is sent to local councillors, officials, and development organisations in the eight municipalities covered by the project. A weekly newsletter is posted on the project website on Fridays, and e-mailed to project beneficiaries. The annual South Africa Survey, published by the Institute, will be posted to municipalities and extracts posted on the project website.
- Nthamaga Kgafela
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nkgafela
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last modified
2009-09-25 11:29
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