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Precarious work in Africa

21 September, 2015
Source: 
PSI
Globally, studies have shown that initial impact of the global economic crisis on employment, left over 27 million people without work. Where jobs are available, precarious employments have replaced standardized employments. Women are disproportionately affected by these precarious employments.

On daily basis, women  are  faced  with the “triple burden”. Women’s roles  as  mothers,  as  workers  and  as  community advocates continue  to  exert  untold  hardship  on  them.
While  it  is  not  only  the women who suffer  the consequences of precarious work, their families and communities also have their share. As governments around the world, including in Africa decreased social spending, services such as health care, child care and elderly care have become unavailable or unaffordable, increasing the burden for women. Further to this,  trade  policies  do  not  traditionally include a gender  analysis that could shed more light into their potential negative impacts on women, families and communities before agreements are negotiated.

The reality is that globalization, and the various policies and structures that support it, have contributed to the feminization of poverty. Under global economics, women have an increased work burden, a decrease in compensation for their labour, and growing health risks associated with poor working conditions and stress, which have all had a negative impact on women globally.

This PSI report was prepared in cooperation with Moradeke Abiodun-Badru, Nigerian National Union of Midwives and Nurses

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