THE Women's March of 1956 was a watershed event as women of all races united to challenge an oppressive system that saw women exploited and deprived of economic opportunities, with no share in the country's wealth.
We celebrate Women's Day to create awareness of the injustices against women, interrogate and engage with the current challenges facing women, and identify possible responses to the challenges. Poverty is one major challenge that continues to undermine the dignity of women in South Africa.
The state of not having enough income for a person's basic needs can be escaped by securing a decent job through decent education. Apartheid was a system of racial segregation and inequality with the oppressed subjected to educational marginalisation, thus limiting their chances of better job opportunities. African, coloured and Indian women were marginalised, meaning they achieved low levels of education which limited their ability to access decent jobs. The repressive apartheid laws had distressing effects on the economic well-being of African women. The migratory labour system, in particular, contributed to the poverty of an African woman.
Poverty is widespread throughout South Africa, but not all women experience it at the same level. Poverty is more prevalent among the African and coloured racial groups. It is also more prevalent among rural women than urban women. While some women have experienced generational poverty, others have experienced situational poverty. The apartheid system plunged most families into generational poverty. This is evident in repeated cycles of poverty within a household where more than two generations are social security beneficiaries.
The surest means to escape poverty prior to 1994 was through a decent education that would guarantee gainful employment. While some women have been able to escape generational poverty, others are still trapped in the cycle of poverty. Most women who are living in poverty are without vocational education and with no access to decent paid work.
Women across racial groups and cultures may experience situational poverty when their income and support is decreased due to a sudden event.
This could be a job loss, divorce, death of a spouse or caregiver, for example. Single women with children are among the most financially vulnerable as they are mostly in low paying jobs but are also primarily responsible for the physical and financial care of their children.
Many women are falling into situational poverty due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The economic well-being of these women is compromised as they struggle to feed their families. Fuel price increases, exorbitant food prices and huge municipal bills are constant financial obligations facing employed single women.
Although most women in this category are reassured that they have job security, their ability to make economic choices is compromised as they tend to make unwise choices like ceding policies and prematurely withdrawing from investments to fend for their families.
Women get into debt, thus placing their future financial security at risk. What has been achieved?
South Africa has acknowledged the profound impact of poverty on women, hence the initiatives aimed at their economic empowerment. Women have been afforded access to business opportunities and business funding schemes.
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) provides financial aid to undergraduate students to help pay for the cost of their tertiary education after finishing high school. Through NSFAS women can get a decent education and secure decent jobs, thus escaping poverty.
What has not been achieved? The idea of the “deserving poor" must be revisited for a broader and more realistic understanding. This would assist in how support can be provided for women at various poverty levels. The current myopic view of the concept is creating the impression that some women are more deserving than others, something which is not in the interests of equity.
The pay gap between women and men continues to be a challenge for women. It pushes women deeper into the hole of debt as the cost of living increases. Levels of education and work experience are some of the structural reasons for the gender pay gap that must be addressed as a matter of urgency. What should be done? In taking the lead in the fight to eradicate poverty, the government should disaggregate women according to their experiences of poverty. The government should carry on attending to women living in acute poverty but should not neglect those who are in situational poverty and might slide into acute poverty.
While government interventions concerning unemployed women are lauded, there is a need for serious attention to be paid to employed women whose predicament has been aggravated by Covid-19 effects.
The idea of “encashing" a certain percentage of their pension sounds good but one should be wary of its implications for the future. Is thought being given to how this withdrawal will affect these employees after retirement?
Poverty is largely an earnings problem. Celebrating Women's Month would be more meaningful for employed tax-paying women if they could be exempted from paying tax for the month of August. This would bring much relief to women in general and single women with children in particular. Through the suggested interventions South Africa would hopefully realise meaningful gender equality.
Dr Zethu Mkhize
Head of Transformation
Stellenbosch University
