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Women and Sustainable Human Development pp 183–203Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Gender Gaps in Employment and Wages in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review

Part of the Gender, Development and Social Change book series (GDSC)

Abstract

Although many studies have examined gender gaps in labour market outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa, most have been conducted within specific countries, making it difficult to form a global picture of women’s position in this part of the world. This chapter provides a critical review of the extant literature on gender gaps in employment and wages in sub-Saharan Africa. It examines, in the midst of considerable economic and cultural diversity, the regularities in women’s position in the labour market position relative to those of men. The review attests that the pattern and correlates of the gaps are somewhat similar across countries, broadly pointing towards policies that contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 5 and 8 in order to arrest the gaps. Nonetheless, a more informed diagnosis of the gender gap problem in sub-Saharan Africa requires datasets that go beyond what is currently available, and analytical methods that dig deeper into the gaps’ causal mechanisms.

This work is based on research supported wholly by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant Numbers 103509 and 103582).

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Fig. 11.1
Fig. 11.2

Notes

  1. 1.

    Southern Africa: Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, Swaziland; Central Africa: Cameroon; Eastern Africa: Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania; Western Africa: Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Mali.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economic and Business Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Miracle Ntuli

  2. Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn, Germany

    Miracle Ntuli

  3. School of Economic and Business Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Prudence Kwenda

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  1. Miracle Ntuli
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  2. Prudence Kwenda
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Correspondence to Miracle Ntuli .

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  1. United Nations University (UNU-MERIT), Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Dr. Maty Konte

  2. United Nations University (UNU-MERIT), Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Dr. Nyasha Tirivayi

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Ntuli, M., Kwenda, P. (2020). Gender Gaps in Employment and Wages in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review. In: Konte, M., Tirivayi, N. (eds) Women and Sustainable Human Development. Gender, Development and Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14935-2_11

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