Income inequaities haunt Botswana - report

Women more affected by economic inequality

Botswana’s economic success has occurred at the expense of high levels of income inequality, and women are most affected by unemployment and underemployment, as well as poor access to resources, according to the latest Botswana Common Country Analysis ( BCCA) report.

It recommends that the Government should consider improving measures on economic transformation and inequality.

The report indicates that Botswana’s Gini index ( measure of income inequality) stood at 64.7 percent in 2002 before coming down to 53.3 percent in 2015. It further indicates that high unemployment among women, combined with women’s limited access to land and housing, put women at a higher risk to poverty than men.

“Women are over- represented in the informal sector: women own and operate an estimated 74 percent of informal businesses. Participation in the formal sector means exclusion from labour and social security protections including pension benefits,” the report indicates.

The BCCA report stipulates that a significant proportion ( about 52, 114 people) of the workforce in Botswana are underemployed, and of this number, 38, 813 ( about 74.5 percent) are females and 13, 301 ( 25.5 percent) are males.

The report indicates that women’s average cash earnings stand at P898 less than men, average income of P5, 283 for men and P4, 385 for women. Furthermore, the estimated overall inactivity rate is at 40.3 percent for women and 44.8 percent for men.

The Government’s Ipelegeng programme accounted for one in every 10 employed persons in Botswana. However its access to both genders differs, with only 5.4 percent of the female workforce part of the programme, while 14.1 percent of the male workforce was employed by it.

The report recommends that “this indicates the need for a greater gender sensitivity in design and implementation, as well as the monitoring and evaluation of social protection and employment programmes”.

Entrepreneur Masego Tladi, who has been plying her trade on the streets dabbling in different businesses from farming to trade, after losing her job during the Covid19 pandemic, said the need to take care of her children had impacted negatively on her ability to earn a decent living.

“I have to prioritise my children and have the issue of unpaid domestic work. The truth is that while things are bad for us all, both men and women, in most cases, women face greater challenges on the ground because their situation is different”.

Lesedi Katlholo on the other hand has always carried the burden of household expenses with her husband, who she is in business with.

“I know that I would struggle alone, and I am grateful that I work with my husband.

We have seen that most poor households in Botswana are those which are single- parent female led, which shows that women have it harder than men.

“Just because women manage doesn’t mean that things are great for them. I believe that there should be laws and policies that prioritise women such as flexi hours, higher rates and reductions on childcare, which is a recurring cost. As the cost of living continues to skyrocket, it is largely women who feel the burden, and it is important to take care of them”.

The BCCA report says the time spent by women on unpaid care work is usually the root cause of women’s underutilisation. It further indicates that Botswana also lacks accessible and affordable childcare facilities to ensure equal participation of women in the labour market.

“This impacts their availability to enter the labour force or remain there, their access to contributory social protection and retirement entitlements, the balance between the dependents and economically active persons, and potential demographic dividend gains”.

The BCCA report indicates that high levels of inequality are evidenced in the fact that while the industrial sector and mining sub- sector, contribute more towards GDP than the agricultural sector, the industrial sector’s relative contribution to total employment is much less than that of agriculture.

In simple terms, agriculture plays an outsized role in terms of employment, compared to its contribution to national output.

The report shows that while the average unemployment rate for all upper middle- income countries is at six percent in 2020, Botswana’s unemployment rate stood at 23.2 percent just before the Covid- 19 pandemic.

Unemployment for women stood at 21.4 percent and at 14.6 percent for men, a gender gap of six percentage points.

Additional information indicates that the Labour Force Participation Rate ( LFPR) for women increased from 53.8 percent in 2010, to 56.1 percent in 2020. But despite the increase, the sex disparity is still apparent.

By 2020, the LFPR for men was 64.6 percent compared to 56.1 percent for women. The report indicates that without efforts to change the barriers to women’s participation, the situation is likely to revert to past trends.