Mothers across South Africa, especially those over 35 need more than chocolates and wine. They need economic opportunities! Here’s why South Africa needs to make space for mothers if we want our economy to grow:
South Africa (09 May 2024) — Mother’s Day celebrates the motherly figures in our lives. Our moms, our grandmas, aunts, family friends or really anyone special who has filled a motherly role in our lives. It’s usually a personal day filled with treats, words of love, or quality time together if we are lucky. But for a South Africa facing striking socio-economic challenges, Mother’s Day can and should mean thinking about South Africa’s moms from a public perspective. If there’s one gift we should strive to give all moms in our country, it’s the gift of pushing for a South Africa that does not block moms from employment opportunities. If we want our economy to grow, we must make space for mothers.
Non-profit social enterprise Taking Care of Business (TCB) has seen firsthand how women, especially those who are over 35 and are mothers, are often swept aside when it comes to the world of employment.
“These women form the segment of our population suffering the ‘double disadvantage’ of being both older women and mothers, making them the worst affected by unemployment rates. Due to structural, political and socio-economic limitations, this portion of our working-age population struggles to access meaningful work,” TCB shares.
Last year, TCB supported 1,078 South Africans to become self-employed; 95% were women between 34 and 44 years old. The environmental reality for these women on entering the TCB programme was that they had an average of 4,5 dependents each (not always biological), only 30% were earning above the poverty line and only 13% had any family savings.
So what’s holding so many of South Africa’s mothers back?
Biased Gender Norms Put Women Under Pressure
Women’s economic empowerment is essential to a healthy economy in South Africa. If businesses can accommodate mothers (especially those from single-income households), they are subsequently creating hope for the future generation these women are raising. However, biased gender norms continue to be a big fork in the road.
As TCB CEO Tracey Chambers highlights: “These are women who care for their own children, non-biological children as well as older dependants. The traditional nuclear family is no longer the norm, rather we are seeing households with multiple dependants and women providing all the care services. This means that women are often stuck at home and can’t access business node.”
When it comes to women’s rights and gender equality, society at large tends to pick and choose when gender equality movements matter and when they don’t. But in South Africa, we need more than well-worded ads on Women’s Day. We need goals that ensure women can equally participate in and benefit from decent work and social protection, access markets, and have control over resources, their own time, lives, and bodies. We need to make space for bigger-picture thinking.
Ageism in the Economy
“Being older and female means many mothers are doubly disadvantaged and less likely than any other segment of the population to ever access the economy and find meaningful work opportunities,” says Tracey.
“Women are disadvantaged in the sense that social norms see them as fulfilling only caregiving or service roles. These gender norms put women under immense pressure to care for families and dependents, but financial realities also place pressure on women to support the household income.”
According to recent statistics, in 2022, 47.0% of South African women were economically inactive, compared to 35.6% of their male counterparts. This disparity underscores the urgent need to address systemic challenges that hinder women’s participation in the labour force. The unemployment rate for women in South Africa stands at 35.5%, higher than the rate for men at 32.6%, indicating the persistent gender gap in employment opportunities.
Youth Unemployment is Not Our Only Challenge
“South Africa is obsessed with youth unemployment, which caters to the 18- to 35-year-olds. The government and civil society are focused on stimulating employment for this age group, resulting in fewer opportunities for people over 35, especially women. While youth is an important age group, we cannot create systems that benefit this segment artificially at the cost of 35+ mothers,” Tracey adds.
Even when women and mothers over 35 do find work, it is often in vulnerable employment spaces. This means inadequate earnings, difficult working conditions and limited prospects for growth.
There aren’t enough social enterprises that make space for training women in this demographic, but the ones that do exist are showing us what is possible.
TCB is Doing Its Part, But It Can’t Do It Alone
TCB offers work opportunities to doubly disadvantaged older women through their Remake, Repair and Resell programmes.
“We empower women to become self-employed through our two-year training programmes. We find that single mothers who go through our programmes are able to become successfully self-employed and make enough money to care for their families. Self-employment gives women flexibility, as they can sell their clothes from wherever they are and at any time of the day. Flexibility also helps mothers to manage their caregiving responsibilities and balance their business and family demands,” says Tracey.
The women can continue to access stock from the social enterprise’s warehouses after they graduate.
But, more support and more models like this are necessary, so success stories like these can continue to create hope and make space for what should not seem like a pipe dream, but a possible future.
by 