Alice Nabalamba, Ph.D. Statistics Department African Development Bank Group

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1 Alice Nabalamba, Ph.D. Statistics Department African Development Bank Group

2 Why study Gender Inequality in Africa? 1. The role women play in development Achieving gender equality is central to attaining the other 7 Millennium Development Goals (e.g., Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger) Increasing women s economic participation fosters economic growth (e.g., Esteve-Volart 2005) Increasing women s incomes improves child nutrition and health outcomes (e.g., Duflo 2003) 2. Moral concerns for equity Millennium Development Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women by 2015 Gender equity as a human rights issue

3 Hypothesis Research from other regions has shown that even after characteristics that explain labour market earnings such as human capital (educational attainment, training, experience) are taken into account there is still a gender wage/employment gap. While this unexplained component is often interpreted as discrimination against women, we need to find out if there are other explanations. Differences in education, socio-cultural norms, women s lack of power within household may all weaken outcomes for women in labour markets.

4 Mali Survey: 9 employment and income outcomes Employment: 1. Agricultural employment vs. Non-agricultural employment 2. Salaried vs. Non-salaried employment 3. Private informal vs. Public sector employment 4. Industrial vs. Service sector employment 5. Formal vs. Informal sector employment Income (monthly): 6. No income 7. Minimum income (< FCFA) FCFA FCFA

5 Control Variables Human capital characteristics educational attainment (number of years of schooling; certification); Demographic characteristics - age; marital status; household headship/spouse of household head; Structural/economic labor environment urban/rural residence; migration from one geographic location to another for economic reasons; Agency individual awareness or participation in political/social activities in their community; Intergenerational aspects including career aspirations, father s current/past employment in professional /formal/other secure job/unionized jobs, etc. Interaction terms - many correlates were interacted with sex, to account for the independent influence of sex and those variables on employment of women/men and or income.

6 1% 5% 4%* 14% 18%* 30%* Main Results: Mali 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Men are three times more likely than women to be salaried workers. Bamako Other Urban Areas Rural Areas Male Female Total

7 17% 27%* 25% 40%* 35% 45%* In Mali women are nearly one and half times more likely to receive no income at all or less than 29,000 FCFA / month (minimum wage) for their work 80% 60% 40% 20% Male Female Total 0% Bamako Other Urban Areas Rural Areas

8 Other Key Findings - Employment Malians are having difficulty to access jobs in more profitable nonagricultural work. Being a non-salaried worker is more prevalent in the young even as they appear to have higher number of years of schooling; suggesting the growing difficulty of Malian men and women to access salaried employment. Women in Mali are more likely to be industrial workers than men (a reflection of the size of the textile industry in urban and rural areas); No gender differences are evident in the private informal sector, although older persons aged 55 and above dominate this industry (again, highlighting the growing difficulty of younger cohorts to access jobs); Women are more likely than men to be employed in the formal sector and while this may seem encouraging, Mali s potential to attain MDG 3 all depends on her ability to maintain/retain high proportions of women in this sector, combined with an increase in the number of women earning more than the minimum income.

9 Other Key Findings - Income Consistent with theoretical expectations, as number of years of schooling and certification levels increase, so does the likelihood of receiving income from work; Men are significantly less likely to earn minimum incomes from any economic activity. 29,000-50,000 FCFA is still considered low income: men are less likely than women to earn income in this income bracket, although youth and young adults are more likely to fall in this category. Over and above 50,000 FCFA income, and the expectation that this would fall under formal employment (where there were no gender differences observed), women s incomes are far less likely to fall in this category. In fact, at income levels 50,000+ FCFA, women s prospects are significantly depressed, particularly by demographic factors-marital status, being head of household/spouse of head of household, as well as being resident in Bamako or other urban areas.

10 How is the AfDB Responding Through its HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY ( ), the AfDB has identified as one of its major areas of focus - improving competitiveness and employment of men and women, and the youth in Africa; The strategy aims to: increase opportunities of women for employment and business creation through increasing the AfDB private sector engagement, and participation in new and productive technologies; increase accountability of public service delivery to women and their children support productive safety nets for the most vulnerable populations.

11 Thank you