Women working in the formal wage employment sector in Zambia : equal opportunities and treatment?

Transcription

1 Eindhoven University of Technology MASTER Women working in the formal wage employment sector in Zambia : equal opportunities and treatment? van Boekhold, A.A.A.L. Award date: 1989 Link to publication Disclaimer This document contains a student thesis (bachelor's or master's), as authored by a student at Eindhoven University of Technology. Student theses are made available in the TU/e repository upon obtaining the required degree. The grade received is not published on the document as presented in the repository. The required complexity or quality of research of student theses may vary by program, and the required minimum study period may vary in duration. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain

2 Women working.in the formal wage employment sector in Zambia: equal opportunities and treatment? Angelique van :Bc;::-j('Jwld August, 1989.

3 i PREFACE In September 1988, I started my M.Sc. research at the Women Workers Question Division at the ILO, Geneva, Switzerland. As an intern, I worked on the issue of equal opportunities and treatment for women workers in Zambia within this Division. Based on the information obtained within the ILO, I wrote the first Part of this M.Sc.report at the Eindhoven University of Technology, during the months November 1988-February The Eindhoven University of Technology offered me the opportunity to visit Zambia, in order to extend my M.Sc. research, which I gladly accepted. In the period March-July 1989, I have been in Zambia, in order to collect the necessary data for the second Part of my M.Sc. research. The report on this second Part is written during my stay in Zambia and after my return in Eindhoven. The underlying report is the result of both Parts of my M.Sc. research for the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Eindhoven University of Technology. I am most grateful! to persons and institutions that have had a very direct hand in the development of this study. It would be impossible to name all who contributed. However, at this place I would like to mention a number of individuals who were of special help and guidance to me during my M.Sc. period. First of all, my supervisors in Eindhoven: Prof. Dr. Ch.J.L. Bertholet, P.E. Lapperre, M.Sc. and Dr. M.L. v. Vonderen van Staveren, who have kept me on my toes all the way. Within the ILO: Mrs. Smirnova (head of the Women Workers Question Division), Fred Fluitman, Catherine van der Wees, Evy Messel, Linda Wirth, Catherine Nadeau, Peter Duiker and Mr. Ahmed, who helped me as much as possible with gathering information. Among those outside the ILO, I especially would like to thank Karin, who made my stay in Geneva of more interest. In Lusaka, I'am most gratefull to Beatrice Chileshe, Anneke Touwen and Kaye Turner, who encouraged and advised me in my work and furthermore of course, all the women whom I interviewed. Among those who performed several additional roles and who's contribution would need more words than can be written here, I would like to mention: Lex, Marleen and Jonathan ("my supervisors in the field"), Andrea, Rita, Jan and Blackie (who made our house the most stimulating academic environment I could have wished), my parents (who always were prepared to listen to my never ending story) and last but not least Bert. The fact that we both were for the first time in a developing country, made us to share lots of experiences related to working and living ip a developing country, which is unforgetable for the two of us.

4 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS * PREFACE. * TABLE OF CONTENTS * LIST OF TABLES. i ii vii * INTRODUCTION TO PART I AND PART II * SUMMARY viii xi SETTING OF PART I. Context and background. Statement of the problem. Methodology. Limitations. Presentation of results. Definitions THE ZAMBIAN LABOUR FORCE AND THE FEMALE FORMAL WAGE EMPLOYMENT SECTOR. Introduction. Population and growth rates. Labour force and labour force participation. The fonnal wage employment sector. Women in the formal wage employment sector. Conclusions FACTORS INFLUENCING THE LOW FEMALE PARTICIPATION RATE IN FORMAL WAGE EMPLOYMENT SECTOR. Introduction. Factors influencing the access to and inequality within the formal wage employment sector

5 iii Social system characteristics The resources women bring to the labour market Employers attitudes and practices Specific formal wage employment sector factors Macro-economic factors and others Conclusions ANALYSIS OF LEGISLATION WITH RESPECT TO EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN WORKERS IN ZAMBIA. Introduction. Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (No.111), 1958 and Recommendation No Scope of the Convention as regards individuals, definition and grounds of discrimination Substantive field of application of the Convention Inherent requirements of a particular job and measures not deemed to be discrimination Implementation of principles Legislation in Zambia concerning Convention No Ad.l. The Constitution of Zambia. 32 Ad.2. The Employment Act. 34 Ad.3. The Industrial Relations Act. 35 Ad.4. The Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act. 35 Ad.5. The Factories Act. 37 Ad.6. The Zambian National Provident Fund Act Conclusions concerning the implementation of Convention No.111 in Zambia. Protective legislation in Zambia. Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951, No

6 iv Scope and requirements of the Equal Remuneration Convention Constitutional and legal provisions giving general effect to the principle Implementing the principle: the tools Legislation in Zambia concerning Convention No Ad.1. Ad.2. The Industrial Relations Act. The Minimum Wages and Conditions of Employment Act Conclusions concerning the implementation of Convention No.100 in Zambia. Conclusions Chapter 4. Analysis of legislation with respect to equal opportunities for women workers in Zambia SETTING OF PART II. Context and background. Statement of the problem. Methodology. Part A: Interviews with women working in the women organizations. Part B: Interviews with women working in the formal wage employment sector. Limitations. Value of the study. Presentation of results WOMEN ORGANIZATIONS. Introduction. Overall structure of women organizations and other important related organizations. Presentation of women organizations Introduction. 56

7 v NGO CC YWCA cu so ZARD 2.4. Women working in women organizations: a review of statements PRESENTATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE INTERVIEWS WITH WOMEN WORKING IN THE FORMAL WAGE EMPLOYMENT SECTOR IN ZAMBIA Introduction. BASIC QUESTION 1: In what way do the lives of Zambian women nowadays differ from that of their mothers? Migration Education Wage labour Family size Summary of main findings related to Basic Question BASIC QUESTION 2: How do Zambian women find a formal wage employment job? And what is their position in relation to men? Finding a formal wage employment job Positional characteristics of the jobs performed by the interviewed women Typical women's jobs Salary Other benefits than salary Promotion chances Training possibilities Summary of main findings related to Basic Question

8 3. 4. vi BASIC QUESTION 3: What reasons or factors cause that women are neglected compaired to men in finding a formal wage employment job, and in advancing within the formal wage employment sector? Level and field of education Double workday Training possibilities Employers attitudes Summary of main findings related to Basic Question BASIC QUESTION 4: How are the Zambian government policies in practice experienced with regard to finding formal wage employment jobs and with regard to the protection of the legal position of women? Practice with regard to finding formal wage employment jobs Practice with regard to the protection of the legal position of women Summary of main findings related to Basic Question CONCLUSIONS AND MAJOR FINDINGS CONCERNING THE CONFRONTATION OF PART I AND PART II. 103 * APPENDIX A. APPENDIX B. APPENDIX c. * APPENDIX D. APPENDIX E. APPENDIX F. APPENDIX G. * APPENDIX H. APPENDIX I. * * LITERATURE

9 vii LIST OF TABELS. table 1 table 2 table 3 table 4 table 5 table 6 table 7 : table 8 Population and growth rates Population distribution and growth rates urban/rural population. The labour force in Zambia : Crude activity rates and refined activity rates by sex. Formal Wage Employment by industry and sector for selected years (% distribution). Sectorial distribution of female formal wage employment as % of total formal wage employment within each sector and the percentage of females in total formal wage employment. Females employed by industry 1975 and Female formal wage employment in primary, secundary & tertiary sectors as % of total formal wage employment in these sectors and as % of total female formal wage employment

10 viii INTRODUCTION TO PART I AND PART II Despite the fact that the United Nations Decade for Women ended some years ago, the improvement of the status of women remains an important goal for various United Nations organizations, since sex inequalities remain considerable. A major determinant of women's overall status within society is their position in the labour market. In the light of the long standing concern of the International Labour Organization for equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women in employment, the question was raised whether the legal systems of various developing countries provide for equal opportunities and treatment for women workers. Based on this question I wrote a research proposal for my M.Sc. research. However, very soon after I started my internship at the ILO it became clear that the analysis of the legal systems of various developing countries regarding equal opportunities and treatment for women workers was too time consuming and too difficult. In view of the above, I decided to concentrate my M.Sc. research on the investigation of the extent of sex inequalities in the labour-market of one developing country and the underlying processes of it in this specific country. After consulting my supervisors at the EUT and at the ILO, Zambia was selected to conduct a research. Because of the fact that almost all literature and statistics concerning the employment situation of women in Zambia focus on the formal wage employment sector, I limited my research to this sector. Next to this, the ILO measures and policies for promoting greater equality are mainly directed at this sector, because the organizations within this sector are much more amenable to policy measures than the economic entities outside the organized sector. The data for my research are assembled in two stages. The first stage took place at the ILO, Geneva, and the second stage took place in Lusaka, Zambia. The division of my M.Sc. research into two parts was purposefully created because it offered the opportunity to confront what was obtained by a literature and desk study with respect to sex inequalities in the Zambian formal wage employment sector with the way in which women in Zambia view various aspects of equal opportunities and treatment. As this report presents both research periods, it is divided into two Parts. The first Part of this report reflects the findings of my research carried out at the Women Workers Question Division of the ILO, while the second Part reflects the results of the research conducted in Lusaka. Each Part starts with its own introductory chapter in which the context of the research is described and methodological issues, such as the definition of the problem, limitations, presentation of results, and relevant definitions, are set. Next to this, a summary of my M.Sc. research precedes both Parts, in which conclusions and major findings are presented for each Part. Conclusions and major

11 ix findings concerning the confrontation of both Parts can be found after Part II. At this place I want to make clear how those two Parts relate to each other, how the research questions for each Part are derived and how the research questions of Part I and Part II do relate to each other. When I started my research at the ILO and because of my poor knowledge of the sex inequality problems in developing countries,, I firstly carried out a preparatory literature study about theories and explanations of the disadvantaged position of women in the labour market. Among others, this study showed that: Sex inequalities in the formal wage employment sector can be divided into two broad categories: A. Inequality of access to employment in the formal wage employment sector. B. Inequality within the the formal wage employment sector. This manifests itself in any of the following ways: 1. Low participation rate of women. 2. Concentration of women in jobs with a low pay, poor career prospects, lack of job security and poor working conditions. 3. Women being paid lower wages than men in similar jobs. The research question for the first Part of my M.Sc. research are based on the above mentioned phenomena. Firstly, I wanted to investigate to what extent sex inequalities manifest themselves in the formal wage employment sector in Zambia. Or stated in another way, do the above mentioned sex inequalities exist within the formal wage employment sector in Zambia? Secondly, which factors could influence the access to and inequalities within the formal wage employment sector for women workers? Thirdly, to what extent does the Zambian legislation provides, promotes or indeed hinders sex equality in the formal wage employment sector of Zambia? Or stated in another way, does the Zambian legislation, which is one of the factors which could have influence on inequalities within the formal wage employment sector, provides for equal opportunities and treatment for women workers? The second stage for this M.Sc. research took place in Lusaka, Zambia. Interviews were held with women working in the formal wage employment sector, with the aim to investigate the opinion regarding the extent of and processes behin~ sex inequalities in the formal wage employment sector. Or stated in another way, what are the experiences of those relatively few women who have in fact entered the formal wage employment sector regarding equal opportunities and treatment.

12 x The research questions (called Basic Questions) considered in Part II are connected with Part I of this M.Sc. research in the following way: 1. Development is a process that is accompanied by tremendous changes in individual ans familly lives (Part I, paragraph ). It was therefore important to find out whether there had been significant changes in the lives of the interviewed women, compared to the lives of their mothers', which could have affected the employability of women in the formal wage employment sector. 2. Given the fact that relatively few Zambian women work in the formal wage employment sector (Part I, paragraph 2.5.), how did those relatively few women find or get their present job? Was it difficult for them to find or get a job and why? Do these women experience positional inequalities, or stated in another way, do they have the same salary, fringe benefits, promotion chances, and training possibilities as their male colleagues in the same position? 3. Given the factors influencing access to and inequality within the formal wage employment sector (Part I, paragraph 3.2.), what kind of processes behind sex inequalities in the formal wage employment sector in Zambia do/did those women experience? 4. Given the Zambian legislation and policies regarding equal opportunities and treatment for women (Part I), how do these women in the formal wage employment sector of Zambia experience the practical implementation of these laws and policies? Are there discrepancies between existing national laws and implementation?

13 xi SUMMARY This M.SC report is concerned with an analysis of equal opportunities and treatment for women workers in the formal wage employment sector in Zambia and is presented in two Parts. Part I. The following research questions are considered in the first Part: (1) What is the place of women in the formal wage employment sector in Zambia? (2) What factors influence women's participation in the formal wage employment sector? (3) Does the legislation provide for equal opportunities and treatment for women workers in Zambia? One of the major conclusions of the analysis of the historic and present employment situation in Zambia, with special attention given to the place of women in the formal wage employment sector, is that although women's proportionate share has increased, in relation to total formal wage employment, women are seriously at a disadvantage, being well under 10 percent of the total number of those with wage employment in the formal sector. Those women who do participate in the formal wage employment sector are mainly concentrated in the tertiary sector and the majority of those women are employed in the community, social and personal services. To explain the low female participation rate in the formal wage employment sector, those factors influencing access to and inequality within the formal wage employment sector are analysed with the use of different country case studies. Although differing cultural and institutional contexts of the case studies make each country situation somewhat unique, there is nonetheless a strong element of similarity in the factors which determine the unequal position of women in the formal wage employment sector in developing countries. Looking at the various determinants of low participation of women in the formal wage employment sector in all it's aspects, one is confrontated with issues of causality. The factors derived from the country case studies are clustered in 5 groups, which are discussed separately in this report. (1) Social system characteristics. Social system characteristics may either encourage, limit, or preclude women from taking up formal wage employment jobs. Fundamentally, the desire and the ability of a woman to seek a formal wage employment job is influenced by the characteristics of the social system, while the same holds true for the demand of women wokers in the formal wage employment sector. Traditionally, societies have defined different roles for the sexes which determine the duties, responsibilities and acceptable behaviour for men and women, which may either encourage, limit or preclude them from taking up formal wage employment jobs. Socially defined roles also determine the appropriateness of certain occupations for women. In Zambia all transgression stages occur next to each other and through the emancipation process of the society as a whole, peoples cultural norms, values and perceptions change

14 xii continously, and their influence on the low participation rate of women in the formal wage employment sector is thus dynamic. (2) The resources women bring to the labour market. Education serves as a screening device for entry into different occupational categories. Level and field of education determines, for example, whether a woman can find or get a specific job. Zambian women with education or training are not only numerically few, they are also concentrated in a narrow range of subject specializations, which restrict women's labour supply to a wider range of occupations. Next to this, due to the sex-segregation of the labour market, women are assigned to a limited range of occupations, where at least some minimum of formal education or training is required. (3) Employer's attitudes and practices. Employer's attitudes and practices have influence on the range and type of occupations in which women are found and on the access of women to the formal wage employment sector. Employers are said to practice discrimination if in recruitment, promotions and pay levels, etc, decisions are based on criteria unrelated to productivity. Nothing can be said about the Zambian situation regarding employer's attitudes and practices because I did not find studies on this subject. (4) Specific formal wage employment sector factors. Protective legislation, one of the specific formal wage employment factors mentioned in this report, could have influence on the sex inequalities within the labour market. The Zambian legislation, for example, prohibits women to take up particular forms of formal wage employment. Protective legislation is nowadays increasingly questioned all over the world, because while it provides for socially desirable objectives, it can also be considered as protectionist and a form of discrimination against women. (5) Macro-economic factors and others. The above mentioned factors and groups of factors are however also affected by general tendencies like: technological changes, industrialization strategies, unemployment rate, labour legislation, number of industries, etc., which all have influence on the world of work, and thus on the formal wage employment sector in Zambia, as in other countries. A surplus male labour force seeking jobs is posing a constraint on women's employability because employers generally give preference to male employees if they are available. A high unemployment rate for men exists nowadays in Zambia. The main objective of the third research question of Part I, is to investigate to what extend the Zambian legislation does provide or indeed hinder equality in the labour market. The Zambian legislation is analysed according to Convention No. 100 and No. 111 of the ILO. With the use of the Zambian country reports and the direct requests from the Committee of Experts of the ILO, a picture is drawn concerning the legalised (formal) situation of equal

15 xiii opportunities and treatment for women workers in Zambia. It is shown that legislative and constitutional guarantees provide for unequal treatment of women workers in Zambia in some respects. The Zambian legislation needs amendments and needs to be broadened to ensure 'de jure' equality for women workers. However it is commonly known that if 'de jure' equality exists in a country, still nothing can be said about 'de facto' equality. Part II. The objective of the second Part of my M.Sc. research was to find out how Zambian women, who work in the formal wage employment sector of Zambia, experience the issue of equal opportunities and treatment and what their opinion is on the issues discussed in the first Part of my M.Sc. research. Therefore, this second Part investigates the opinion of a number of women working in the formal wage employmeny sector of Zambia, regarding the following four Basic Questions, derived from the first Part of my M.Sc. research: (1) In what way do the lives of Zambian women nowadays differ from those of their mothers? (2) How do Zambian women find a formal wage employment job? And what is their position in relation to men? (3) What reasons or factors cause that women, compared to men, have more difficulties in finding a formal wage employment job and in advancing within the formal wage employment sector? (4) How are the Zambian government policies with regard to finding a formal wage employment jobs and with regard to the protection of the legal position of women experienced in practice? In total 36 women working in the formal wage employment sector in Zambia were interviewed with the use of a standard questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of a number of "subquestions' which relate to at least one of the four Basic Questions. To put this questionnaire in the right context and to test the viability of this questionnaire, a number of women working in women organizations in Zambia were used as key-informants. The interviewed women were classified according to three criteria: age, place of origin, and occupation. For each Basic Question a review of major findings, resulting from the analyses of the interviews with the women working in the formal wage employment sector of Zambia, is presented below. It should be noticed that statements and conclusions only refer to the relatively small sample of interviewed women. * Major findings related to Basic Question 1: (1) The mothers of three quarters of the interviewed women were housewives or peasant farmers. (2) Most women who did not spend their childhood in Lusaka came to Lusaka at the age between 17 and 21 years. Highly Skilled and Skilled women mostly in order to follow education, while Unskilled women mainly came to Lusaka due to family reasons or to find a job.

16 xiv (3) All interviewed women had a higher educational level than their mothers. (4) The interviewed women fewer gave preference to their boys above girls to get education than their parents did. Those women who did give preference to their boys were either Skilled or Unskilled women and had parents who did the same. (5) The average number of children desired by the interviewed women was less than half (3.2 compaired to 7.6) of the number of children their mothers gave birth. A lot of women gave economic considerations as reason for limiting the family size. * Major findings related to Basic Question 2: (1) Most Unskilled women rely on friends or relatives when they try to find a formal wage employment job, while Skilled and Highly Skilled women seldom do. Most Skilled and Highly Skilled women try to find formal wage employment jobs through newspapers or other publications and by open applications. (2) Only Unskilled women thought they would not be able to find a new formal wage employment job. Main reasons given were either bad economic situation or bad qualifications. Most Skilled and Highly Skilled women thought they would be able to find a new formal wage employment job as they had good qualifications. Qualifications, thus, play an important role in finding formal wage employment jobs. This is confirmed by the fact that most of the women who would pref er to do another kind of job, did not try to find such a job because they thought they didn't have the right qualifications or were overqualified for this job, or they did try but were rejected because they did not have the right qualifications. (3) Unskilled and Skilled women generally have female colleagues, while Highly Skilled women mainly have male colleagues. (4) Most women get the same salary as their male colleagues. However, men are entitled to additional benefits. (5) Almost all women wanted to get further training or education. Unskilled women and Skilled women mainly in order to get better job opportunities and Highly Skilled women mainly because they thought that other fields of work were more challenging. Almost none of the Unskilled women tried to advance their education or training within the organization where they were working, while more than half of the Skilled women and almost all Highly Skilled women did. However, almost all Skilled women did not get assistance from their employer, while most Highly Skilled women did get assistance. From the 8 women who did not get assistance, 5 women stated that their male colleagues do get assistance. * Major findings related to Basic Question 3: (1) Level and field of education are for both men and women important factors for finding employment and advancing within the formal wage employment sector. Societal factors play an important role in determining the level and field of education which men and women receive. This is illustrated by the fact that 18 out of 36 women had parents who gave

17 xv preference to their boys to get education. As a result, the educational opportunities for women are less than for men, thereby limiting women's opportunities in finding formal wage employment jobs and advancing within the formal wage employment sector. (2) The fact that: (1) Married men, according to their wives, do not equally participate in the household; (2) Most women with children find it difficult to combine work and household and; (3) Almost one third of the women with children, states that the responsibilities as a mother affect the way their employer appraises their work; suggests that household responsibilities and responsibilities as a mother influence the possibilities of a woman (married, unmarried, with or without children) to find a formal wage employment job and to advance within the formal wage employment sector. (3) The fact that employers do not assist women to advance their education as they do to their male colleagues to advance their education, cause that women are neglected compared to men in advancing within the formal wage employment sector. This was the case for 5 out of the 19 respondents who applied for training facilities. (4) A lot of women stated that negative attitudes of employers towards women with children and/or married women causes that employers are reluctant to hire women. Two women stated explicitly that they had applied for a job and were unsuccessful because they were a woman. * Major findings related to Basic Question 4: (1) Almost all women stated that women do not get any help from any governmental organization when looking for a formal wage employment job. (2) None of the interviewed women had ever been to the Labour Office. (3) According to most of the Highly Skilled women, the Zambian government policies provide for equal opportunities in theory, while the actual situation is different. (4) Most of the Skilled and Highly Skilled women stated that the system of the cutting points does not provide for equal opportunities for boys and girls. (5) Most of the Unskilled women and some of the Skilled and Highly Skilled women are not aware of Laws related to their legal position. For almost all Unskilled women it was very hard to express themselves on the issues raised in relation to this Basic Question.

18 1 1. SETl'ING OF PART I Context and background. Almost all African countries face an increasingly serious structural employment problem. Ever larger numbers enter the labour market every year in search of formal wage employment. The modern sector in most African countries cannot absorb more than a small fraction of those who come to the labour market. The two main reasons are the relatively small size of the wage economy and the rapid growth in the number of labour force entrants. Mostly all of them cannot afford to remain unemployed for any length of time. The result is that they are faced to join the large majority of African workers who are underemployed in rural subsistence activities or in the rapidly growing informal sector [33]. In many countries working women are discriminated against in various direct and indirect ways in the economy and society. In almost all societies men and women are subjected to differential treatment with respect to their access to positions of power and privilege. The difference between more advanced countries and less developed ones, in this regard is one of degree. The sex differentials in labour force participation rates are as evident in the industrialised countries as in the non-industrialised ones [16]. For industrialised countries, there is considerable documentation on sex inequalities in employment. For developing countries there is not the same wealth of studies and statistics [12). In this report the issue of equal opportunities and treatment for women workers in the formal wage employment sector in Zambia is considered. In several publications about Zambia it is emphasised that more research is needed into the poor female representation in formal wage employment as well as why so many women looking for wage employment are unsuccessfull [1],[2],[10) Statement of the problem. This study will be concerned with the analysis of equal opportunities and treatment for women wokers in the formal wage employment sector in Zambia. In dealing with the issue of patterns of women's formal wage employment in Zambia the following specific questions are considered: (1) What is the place of women in the formal wage employment sector in Zambia? (2) What factors influence women's participation in the formal wage employment sector? (3) Does the legislation provide for equal opportunities and treatment for women workers in Zambia?

19 Methodology. The information on the research questions is obtained by a literature search and desk study at the ILO headquarters in Geneva and at the Eindhoven University of Technology. This study relies heavily on data from secondary sources, such as International Organisation publications as well as other publications. Some of the tables presented are new in that they were conducted from data extracted from a variety of sources or derived from other statistical sources Limitations. 1. For the analyses of the first research question several studies were used. It appeared that in most studies unequivocal and clearly defined concepts were not given sufficient attention. Consequently, it is difficult to compare data from different studies. Most studies do not mention: * a clear definition of the formal\informal sector; * a clear definition of crude and refined participation rates; * whether only indigenous ethnic groups or all ethnic groups are included; * whether or not self-employment is included in the formal sector; * whether or not the age group of years from the total labour force in 1980 is excluded (this is relevant because labour force data for the 1969 census includes persones 15 years or older and the 1980 census includes persones 12 years and older). In addition, important primary data are lacking. To be able to give an overall picture of the Zambian labour force there is a need for reliable statistical information on the subject matter. Among others, this should include statistical information on: * size and composition of formal sector; * size and composition of informal sector; * female formal wage employment data on: - fields: skilled\unskilled - employment status - occupations; * actual number and gender brake-drown of people in self-employment and small scale industries; * rural female labour force; * time-trends for above mentioned issues; * female headed households. 2. For the analyses of the second research question several African case studies are used to find as many factors as

20 3 possible. Unfortunately, none of these studies use a complete model or attempt to group or discuss all factors. Where data are available, attention is given to the specific Zambian situation regarding the factors influencing access to and factors influencing inequality within the formal wage employment sector. It appeared that there is a great deal of available information on the role and status of women in Zambia, but there is noticeably uneven quality among this data and there is much duplication. 3. The information in the country reports used in Chapter 4. supplied by the Zambian government is often incomplete and vague. Next to this, for some years the country reports are not received by the Committee of Experts. However, it should be noted that those country reports and direct requests are not publiced and therefore are valuable information for the analysis of equal opportunities and treatment for women workers in Zambia. (see Appendix F for information about Committee of Experts, direct requests, country reports and others) 4. This report concentrates on a small minority of Zambian women, namely Zambian women in the formal wage employment sector Presentation of results. Chapter 2. undertakes an analysis of the position of women in the formal wage employment sector. Since the study isolates women as one component of the Zambian nation's manpower and analyses the employment situation of this group in the formal wage employment sector it is necessary to provide background information on population, growth rates, total labour force and participation rates. This chapter discusses the historic and present employment situation in Zambia quantitively, with special attention given to (female) formal wage employment. In the following chapter, among other inequalities, the low participation rate of women in the formal wage employment sector in Zambia, is analysed in relation to factors influencing access to and factors influencing inequality within formal wage employment sector. Among others, the main factors can be divided in the following groups: 1. Social system factors. 2. The resources women bring to the labour market. 3. Employers attitudes and practices. 4. Specific formal wage employment sector factors. 5. Macro-economic factors. The constraints or factors identified are essentially the same constraints or obstacles in the way of expanding equal opportunities for women workers in the formal wage employment sector. Expanding equal opportunities and treatment for women workers and abolishing discrimination in the field of employment is one of the

21 4 main objectives of the ILO. The two most important standard-setting instruments of the ILO in the field of discrimination and equal opportunities and treatment for women workers are the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (No.111) and the Equal Remuneration Convention (No.100) which Zambia both ratified. In order to remove discrimination in places in which it is occuring, ratifying governments are required by these Conventions to declare and pursue a national policy designed to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in all fields of employment and occupation. National policies required by ILO instruments involve a wide range of measures in terms of legislation, educational action, economic programmes and social policy. In Chapter 4. the Zambian legislation which implement both Conventions is analysed. With use of the Zambian country reports and the direct requests from the Committee of Experts of the ILO, a picture is drawn concerning the legalised (formal) situation of equal opportunities for women workers in Zambia. Legislation concerning equal opportunities for women workers is one of the factors mentioned in Chapter 3. which could have influence on the access to and inequalities within the formal wage employment sector. The main objective of this chapter is to analyse to what extent the Zambian legislation does provide, promote or indeed hinder equality in the Zambian labour market Definitions. 1. IABOUR FORCE OR ECONOMICALLY ACTIVE POPUIATION. A countries labour force or economically active population is generally defined as that proportion of the population 15 years or older, employed or unemployed but actually seeking employment and available for the production of economic goods and services during a specified time-reference period. In Zambia the labour force includes also persons who are available for work though not looking for work. 2. IABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE. The concept of labour force participation rate or activity rate is a measure for the size of the labour force in a given country. The crude activity rate is the ratio of the economically active population to the total population. Stated differently, it is the proportion of the population classified as being in the labour force. The refined activity rate, is the proportion of the population 15 years or more who are in the labour force., Although the refined activity rate is more meaningfull, international comparisons tend to be based on the crude activity rates.

22 5 3. FORMAL SECTOR. The formal sector or modern sector comprises both self employment and wage employment, characterised by the use of modern technology and economic organization and relationships governed by the mechanism of the labour market and economic sector. Data on the formal/modern sector mostly focuse on the formal wage employment sector. This is due to the fact that the supply and demand for labour is organised by the mechanism of the labour market. Consequently, the basic criteria for the definition of "formal/modern sector employment" used in this study is wage earning employment. Hence the focus on the formal wage employment sector. 4. INFORMAL SECTOR. The concept of informal sector is used in contra-distinction to the concept of formal sector. As with the formal sector, there is no generally agreed upon definition of 'the informal sector', but the term is often used to refer to unregistrated, small scale and informally organised activities of the traditional urban and rural sectors. Informal sector employment is generally self or family employment.

23 2. THE ZAMBIAN LABOUR FORCE AND THE FEMALE FORMAL WAGE EMPLOYMENT SECTOR Introduction. This chapter undertakes an analysis of the labour force and employment situation in Zambia, thereby providing perspective for the treatment of the subject matter. The main objective of this chapter is to analyse the current position of women in the formal wage employment sector in order to look at to what extent women are represented in this sector. For this purpose, and taking into consideration the nature of statistical and other data available, also historic (as from 1969 onwards) data were analysed. First, a general picture of the total population and growth rates is presented, and the most important basic characteristics of the population are described. Secondly, attention is given to the size, growth, and distribution of the labour force, as well as to the activity rates by sex. Thirdly, the structure of the formal wage employment sector is discussed and finally, this results in a description of the female formal wage employment sector. At the end of this chapter, main findings and conlusions are summarized. It is important to notice that this chapter mainly relies on statistical data. As for most developing countries, such statistical data are hard to find and seldom reliable and/or consistent. Furthermore, often different definitions are used for the same concept, sometimes even in one source. (see also Paragraph Limitation (1)) Nevertheless, as many data as possible are used to draw an adequate picture of the female representation/participation in the formal wage employment sector Population and growth rates. There have been two population censuses in Zambia, one in 1969 and one in 1980 from which the data are used in this chapter. Population figures after 1980 are projections based on the 1980 census, and they differ depending on the source. In table 1 the population figures and the average growth rates for some periods are shown. In 1980, Zambia's population was about 5.7 million and the population growth rate was 3.3 percent [l]. This seems however relatively high according to the average annual growth rate calculations (see table 1). If fertility remains high and mortality continues to decline, it is estimated that the population will reach 7.5 million by 1989 and 11.5 million by the year 2000 [6].

24 table 1. Population and growth rates total population ('000) 4,056,995 5,679,808 6,440,000 Males ('000) 1,987,011 2,785,469 3,187,000 % of total population Females ('000) 2,069,984 2,894,339 3,253,000 % of total population ,5 Average annual growth rate (%) in period ( 2,5 3,1 3,2 ( ) ( ) ( ) Source: [2], [6], and computed data from source [2], [6] and [1] Important basic characteristics of Zambia's population are: 1. The slight predominance of the female population, i.e. females constitute approximately 51 percent of total population [5]. 2. The relative youthfulness of the population: 46.7 percent of the total population was under 15 years of age in (Official Estimate from the ILO) [6]. 3. The increase of the urban population, i.e. the proportion of urban population to total population has continuously increased from 20.5 percent in 1963 to 29.4 percent in 1969 and further to 43.0 percent in This trend ranks Zambia as the third urbanized country in Africa, after Algeria and South Africa [1]. This large urban population is coupled with a sparse and scattered settlement in the rural areas, which has a high variation in population density [7]. In table 2 the population distribution between rural and urban areas and the growth rates are shown. 4. The imbalanced sex ratio in urban areas along 'the line of rail', i.e. more males to females, on average 1040 males per 1000 females in urban areas and less males to females in rural areas, on average 901 males to 1000 females. The provinces along the urbanized line of rail have male surpluses as a result of internal migration patterns and the predominance of

25 8 male labour in industries and services [2]. As a result, female headed households within the rural provinces average at least 30 percent of all farming families [1]. 5. Zambia has one of the highest population growth rates in the world [4]. table 2. population distribution and growth rates urban\rural population total population ('000) 4,056,995 5,679,808 6,440,000 population distribution urban (%) rural (%) average growth rate (%) period ( ) urban rural (1963- ( ) 1980) Source: [ 1] and [ 6] 2.3. Labour force and labour force participation. In Zambia the labour force, or economically active population, is generally defined as that proportion of the population 15 years or older, employed or unemployed, the latter including those actively seeking work as well those not looking for work believing that work is not available. Not included in the labour force are women engaged full time on household duties in own households, full time students, those unable to work because of old age, sick/disabled, those with other sources of income (subsistence farmers; informal sector activities etc), prisoners etc [5]. pfficial figures in Zambia are based on the definition of 'employment' as meaning 'providing goods or services for a wage' or 'engaging in remunerative work'. By making wage a criterion of work, official statistics exclude whole categories of productive labour. The problem of defining who is in the labour force is a particularly acute in the case of developing countries. This is particularly important in the case of women, since most women in Africa are

26 9 engaged in unpaid family work in the rural areas on farms or female headed households in subsistence farming. Statistics tend to underestimate the proportion of economically active females in these countries. Thus, significant differences in the female labour force participation rates must be interpreted with caution. Official data on the labour force are only available for 1969 and 1980, these are based on the population censuses. Table 3. presents a picture of the Zambian labour force Zambia for the years 1969, 1980 and The 1984 data are based on an official estimate from the ILO. Table 3. shows that the labour force as a percentage of the total adult population and the labour force in urban areas is continuously growing. Furthermore, females comprise about a third of the labour force in Zambia. table 3. The labour force in Zambia: Adult population ('000) 2,179 3,038 3,432 (age 15 years +) Labour force ('000) 1,221 1,761 2,032 (excluding self-employed) % females % males % rural % urban Labour force 56,0 58,0 59,2 as % of total adult population Source: [ 1] and [6] Table 4. summarises statistical information on the labour force participation rates for some years. The crude and refined activity rates reveal a consistent higher male activity rate compared to the female rate. This is as one would have expected. It is interesting to note that the percentage difference between male and female activity rates is about the same for the yeµrs mentioned in table 4. An ILO study about patterns of women's employment in Africa [8] showed that the female crude activity rate in Zambia was ~elatively low in comparison with 16 other African countries. The female crude activity rates ranged from 1.7 to 55.3 percent for these 16 countries and Zambia had rank numder 11.

27 10 table 4. Crude activity rates and refined activity rates by sex crude activity rate (%) female male total refined activity rate (%) female male total Source: Computed from source [1], [2],[6] and [7]. Note: the self employed are excluded from the labour force figures (see table 1) The formal wage employment sector. According to the 1969 census, total employment was estimated at 756,300 and of this, formal wage employment was 321,460. This means that of the total number employed in the economy, 42,5 percent were in the formal wage employment sector, and the remaining 57,5 percent in the traditional rural and urban informal sectors. Or in the formal self-employment sector. Employment data for the 1980 census show that of the total employed in the economy, 30 percent were employed in the formal wage employment sector [2). Table 5. shows the sectorial distribution of formal wage employment for some selected years. The above figures and table 5, show that while the potential labour force in Zambia is continuously growing, the employment generation capacity of the formal wage employment sector, has not matched the growth of the labour force. In fact, total formal employment has remained virtually constant and for certain years it has actually declined. This suggests that the employment generation capacity of the formal sector in Zambia is limited and is unlikely to radically increase in the future. As can be seen from table 5: formal wage employment shows sizeable increases in the community, social and personal services sector. The formal wage employment in finance real estate and business services increased from 2.9 percent in 1971 to 6.1 percent in On the other hand, significant declines in the construction, agriculture, distribution, restaurants and hotels sectors were recorded between 1971 and The manufacturing sector increased between 1971 and 1983 with 1.9 percent. Figures in table 5. show shifts of employment from the primary and secondary sectors to the tertiary sector, the so-called 'structural transformation of the labour force'. Another trend is the

28 table 5. Formal Wage Employment by industry and sector for selected years.(% distribution) 11 Industry I PRIMARY Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries Mining & Quarrying II SECONDARY Manufacturing Construction Electricity & Water III TERTIARY Distribution, Restaurants & Hotels Transport & Communications Finance Insurance, Real Estate & Business Services Community, Social & Personal Services (excluding domestic services) l Total % Total ('OOO} , , , ,800 Source: (2]. Note: Figures for 1971 and 1975 are the averages for the quarter ending 31st December, and those for 1980 and 1983 are the averages for the quarter ending 30th June.

29 12 decreasing share of the formal wage employment sector in total labour force: 1980 data show that 21.6 percent of total labour force was working in the formal sector as compared with 26.9 percent in More and more people will have to resort to informal sector activities both in agriculture and urban informal sectors for their survival. The unsatisfactory performance of the economy in terms of employment generation is evidenced from the rising unemployment rate and the high proportion of the labour force engaged in the informal sector. According to the 1969 census, the unemployment rate in Zambia was estimated at 30 percent. An estimate on the unemployment rate in 1980 for Zambia shows that this rate would be at least in the region of 40 percent (2). 2.5 Women in the formal wage employment sector. Data on female formal wage employment are only available for 1975 and These data are based on establishment surveys carried out by the Central Statistical Off ice of the government of the Republic of Zambia. It is only for the above two years that the Central Statistical Office has prepared employment tables by sex. on basis of the two years data it is difficult to discern a meaningful trend in women's employment in the formal wage employment sector. Table 6 shows the sectorial distribution of females in the formal wage employment sector. This table shows that women are seriously at a disadvantage, being well under 10 percent of the total number of those with wage employment in the formal sector. table 6. Sectorial distribution of female formal wage employment as % of total formal wage employment within each sector, and the percentage of females in total formal wage employment. Sector Agriculture Mining and quarrying Manufacturing Energy and water Construction Distribution, hotels & restaurants Transport & communication Finance, insurance, real estate & business services Community, social & personal services Total Source: (1) and computed from source [2]

30 13 It may be noted that despite the slight drop in the total formal wage employment in 1980 (see table 5.), women's relative share increased from 6.3 percent to 8.0 percent. Women are disproportionately concentrated in the tertiary sector, as in 1980 women accounted for 10.6 percent of the total workforce in the tertiary sector. Table 7 shows the number of females employed by industry. Most women are working in community, social and personal services (about 48 percent in 1975 and about 44 percent in 1980 of the total number of females working in formal employment). Next to this sector, the Finance, insurance and real estate and business service sector and the Distribution, Restaurants and Hotel sector account together for about 17 percent of total female formal wage employment in 1975 and about 20 percent in In table 8. the distribution of female formal wage employment in primary, secondary and tertiary sector can be found for the years 1975 and The secondary sector (manufacturing; electricity and water: and construction and allied repairs) employs 14 percent in 1975 and 13 percent in 1980 of women in formal wage employment, while the primary sector accounts for about 17 percent in 1975 and 20 percent in 1980 of females employed in the formal wage employment sector. The remaining part of females employed in formal wage employment jobs work in the tertiary sector: about 69 percent in 1975 and 67 percent in In other words, women in formal wage employment are concentrated in the tertiary sector in Zambia. table 7. females employed by industry 1975 and 1980 Sector Number 1975 % of total 1980 Number ~ 0 of total Agriculture, forestry, fisheries Mining & quarrying Manufacturing Energy & water Construction & allied repairs Distribution, hotels & restaurants Transport & Communication Finance, insurance, real estate, business services Community, social, personal services 1,160 3,070 2, ,110 1,030 2,060 11, ,320 3,490 2, ,790 1,460 2,660 12, All sectors 24, , Source: [l] and computed from source [2]

31 14 table 8. Female formal wage employment in primary, secundairy & tertiary sectors as % of total formal wage employment in these sectors and as % of total female formal wage employment. Females employed % of total sector employment Females employed % of total females employed Sector Primary Secondary Tertiary Total Source: [11 and computed from source [2] 2.6. Conclusions. For the analyses of the Zambian labour force and the female formal wage employment sector several studies were used. It appeared that in most studies unequivocal and clearly defined concepts were not given sufficient attention. Consequently, it is difficult to compare data from different studies. However the following conclusions can be drawn from the analysis presented in this chapter: 1. The potential labour force in Zambia is continuously growing, while the employment generation capacity of the formal wage employment sector is virtually nil. 2. Data suggest that women constitute about 30 percent of the total labour force in Zambia. However, statistics tend to underestimate the proportion of economically active females, as is the case in most developing countries. 3. Compaired with other African countries, the Zambian female crude activity rate is relatively low. 4. Although women's proportionate share has increased, in relation to total formal wage employment, women are seriously at a disadvantage, being well under 10 percent of the total number of those with a job in the formal wage employment sector. 5. Women in the formal wage employment sector are mainly concentrated in the tertiary sector. The majority of these women are employed in the community, social, and personal services. 6. It is most likely, that the majority of economically active females are concentrated in informal sector activities.

32 15 3. FACTORS INFLUENCING THE LOW FEMALE PARTICIPATION RATE IN FORMAL WAGE EMPLOYMENT SECTOR Introduction. There are several theories and explanations for the disadvantaged position of women in the labour market mentioned in literature (see for example [12]). The main approaches are the nee-classical, the segmentation, and the gender or feminist theories. Neo-classical theories emphasise sex differences in variables which affect labour productivity and labour supply such as family responsibilities, physical strenght, education, training, hours of work, absenteeism and turnover in order to explain why women earn less than men. [12] Theories of labour market segmentation can be considered as refinements of nee-classical theories, in that they view the labour market as stratified or segmented by institutional barriers. Within each segment, nee-classical principles are generally still assumed to be relevant. These theories emphasise factors related to the structure of the labour market and how men and women get slotted into separate segments of the labour market in explaining sex inequalities. [12] Gender theories take societal and cultural factors, which place women in an inferior position both in home and in the labour market, into account for explaining sex inequalities in the labour market. Such variables tend to be taken as given in the other theories mentioned, but in the gender theories these factors are subject for study. The main contribution of gender theories has been to show how women's position in the labour market can be seen as part of a whole social system where women are subordinate. They focus us to think about the deeper social roots of the sex segmentation of the labour market.[18] These three groups of theories basically suggest that sex inequalities in the labour market are related to sex differences in human capital, to the structure of the labour market, and to cultural norms concerning the status and roles of women in society. Sex inequalities in the labour market can broadly be divided into two categories [12]: (i) (ii) inequality of access to employment in the formal wage employment sector; inequality within the formal wage employment sector. Both categories are closely related, as inequality within the formal wage employment sector is (among others) a result of access to employment in the formal wage employment' sector. Consequently, factors influencing access to female formal wage employment often overlap with factors influencing inequality within the formal wage employment sector. For example, social attitudes influence employer recruitment practices and promotion practices [1].

33 16 Sex inequality within the formal wage employment sector manifests itself in any of the following ways: - low participation rate of women; - concentration of women in jobs with low pay, poor career prospects, lack of job security and poor working conditions: - women may be paid lower wages than men in similar jobs. To explain the low female participation rate in the formal wage employment sector in Zambia, attention is given to those factors influencing access to and inequality within formal wage employment sector. These factors are derived from different country case studies [2],[7],[12],[18],[19]. The used country case studies go beyond employment statistics to investigate barriers in the labour market which limit women's opportunities for employment and promotion in formal wage employment sector. In addition to macrolevel data, these case studies present micro-level data on for example; recruitment processes, attitudes of employers and earning differentials. Although differing cultural and institutional contexts of the case studies make each country situation somewhat unique, there is nonetheless a strong element of similarity in the factors which determine the unequal position of women in formal wage employment sector in developing countries Factors influencing the access to and inequality within the formal wage employment sector. As already mentioned in the introduction, the factors that determine sex inequalities in the formal wage employment sector, are derived from different case studies [2], [7],[12), [18],[19]. None of these case studies use a complete model or attempt grouping of factors for discussing the relevant items. Only in the Nigerian case an attempt has been made to compile a model [19) (see Appendix A). In most other case studies only reference is given to a few factors. In this paragraph factors are clustered in the following way: 1. Social system characteristics. 2. The resources women bring to the labour market. 3. Employer's attitudes and practices. 4. Specific formal wage employment sector factors. 5. Macro-economic factors and others. These groups and related factors are discussed in the following paragraphs. Where data were available, attention is given to the Zambian situation in respect of the issue under consideration.

34 17 J.2.1. Social system characteristics. Fundamentally, the desire and the ability of a woman to seek modern wage employment is influenced by the characteristics of the social system [19). The demand for women workers is also influenced by social system characteristics [10). Traditionally, societies have defined different roles for the sexes. The socially defined duties, responsibilities and acceptable behaviour of a woman as a wife, mother or relative may either encourage, limit or preclude modern wage employment. Socially defined roles, also determine the appropriateness of certain occupations for women and have influence on the household division of activities. At times, however, these restrictions change under economic pressures, such as male migration or recession [19). Social system characteristics are of major importance as they have influence on a lot of factors from various categories mentioned in paragraph 3.2. For example, parental attitudes towards female education have influence on the resources women bring to the labour market. The list of social system characteristics presented below is compiled from various sources [1],[2],[7],[8],[10],[12], [14], [16),[18],[19). These characteristics have influence on the inequality within and access to formal wage employment sector. Because almost all social system characteristics influence each other, these factors are not discussed separately. However, after the summing up of these characteristics, a picture is drawn of the social system which determines the status of women in Zambia. Attention is given to the influence of the social system characteristics on the employability of women (if data are available). Among social system factors which have influence on the inequalities in the labour market the following should be mentioned in any case: 1. Marital system. 2. Women's fertility. 3. Family structure. 4. Socially defined roles. 5. Relative status and power of men and women. 6. Culturally defined sexual division of labour and appropriate roles for women. 7. Socio-cultural orientations. 8. Extended family obligations. 9. Division of labour within the household. 10. Number and ages of children. 11. Availablity of parental surrogates. 12. Child rearing practices. 13. Economic and social benefits expected from children. 14. Expectations for male and female children.

35 18 Women's place in traditional Zambian society differs from women's place in modern Zambian society [10). Development is a process that brings with it enormous changes in the very substance of people's lives. Among others, it touches their values, their cultural norms, and their perceptions of one other [19). Development is a transgression process from family tribe society to traditional society, and from traditional society to modern society. In Zambia all transgression stages still occur next to each other. To understand how social system characteristics influence women's desire or ability to seek modern wage employment and how these influence the demand for women workers there is a need to describe traditional and modern society in Zambia. Women differ from one another in numerous ways: rural/urban women; illiterate/educated women; poor/rich women; and etc. Because women are hardly a homogenous group in the context of this Part of my M.Sc. research, only general remarks can be made in describing women's place in traditional and modern society in Zambia. Socially defined roles and expectations of women in traditional Zambian society differ from those in modern society. However, through the emancipation process of society as a whole these roles and expectations are also changing. Some characteristics determining women's role in the traditional society are congruent to those in modern society, others are discongruent [20). These characteristics have influence on the participation of women in the formal wage employment sector. Traditional system characteristics often lead to elements of positional discrimination in the labour market and modern system characteristics to functional discrimination in the labour market [19). The role of a Zambian woman in the family is largely very traditional, or what is currently accepted as 'traditional' (traditional society since colonalism) [10). In past communal social formations, the social division of labour did clearly assign tasks on the basis of gender. Women had productive economic roles, complementary to those of men, but also took the larger share of domestic work. As a result of the penetration of capitalism, however, work was redifined as waged work, from which women were largely excluded [2]. Women's domestic labour and their activities in subsistence production in rural areas were no longer defined as work, because they were not remunerated. Consequently, Zambian women today are stereotyped as housewives, and they are socialised to assume what are now described as their primary roles as wives and mothers [20). This is as true of married, working women, as it is of the urban and rural unemployed. As wives and mothers, women are expected to be subordinate to their husbands as heads of households. A man's role in Zambia today is modelled on the western, capitalist notion of 'povider': the financial supporter of his family [10). Generally, the bulk of the responsibility for child care, nursing the sick, cooking and other domestic tasks falls on women. However, the. nature of a wife's obligations differs and the definition of appropriate behaviour varies depending on the ethnic groups to which she belongs and if she is living in an urban or rural area [15). The culturallydefined sexual division of labour restricts women's supply in the labour market because women's place is considered to be in the home. Such gender-specific roles have a long tradition and are well