Distributional changes in the gender wage gap in the post-apartheid South African labour market

Mosomi, Jacqueline

doi:10.35188/unu-wider/2019/651-7

Cited by 24 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Espi et al (2019) also find that the gender pay gap has widened. Bhorat and Goga (2013), Rogan and Alfers (2019) and Mosomi (2019) analysed the gender wage gap, and the results seem to be consistent that the gender wage gap is high. For example, Mosomi (2019) finds that the gender wage gap remained at an average of 23% and 25%.…”

Section: Economic Inequalitymentioning

confidence: 58%

Revisiting Poverty, Human Development and Inequality in Democratic South Africa

Gumede

2021

Indian Journal of Human Development

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There are many questions related to poverty in South Africa that remain unsatisfactorily answered. Given the poor performance of the South African economy, including declining per capita incomes and increasing unemployment, since 2010 or so, it is important to examine poverty dynamics in the recent years. Many recent studies in this regard have relied on 2015 data, and do not examine all the three interrelated aspects of wellbeing viz. poverty, human development and inequality. In this context, this paper uses all the five waves of the National Income Dynamics Study and employs different poverty and inequality measurement techniques to investigate poverty dynamics, human development and inequality during the post-apartheid period in South Africa. The estimates suggest that although poverty was declining prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the African/Black population group is the most affected by poverty. The phenomenon of feminisation of poverty is also verified based on the evidence of increasingly more women in poverty than men. The proportion of population experiencing multiple deprivations, measured by the Multidimensional Poverty Index, have not changed in the post-apartheid period. Similarly, human development has not improved during this period. South African society continues to be one of the most unequal societies in the world. The paper argues that the inability to sufficiently reduce poverty, unemployment and inequality results from the weak performance of the South African economy. In the same vein, it is the structure of the South African economy that has kept the levels of human development low and income inequality high.

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Section: Economic Inequalitymentioning

confidence: 58%

Revisiting Poverty, Human Development and Inequality in Democratic South Africa

Gumede

2021

Indian Journal of Human Development

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“…The South African economy and labour market are highly unequal in terms of both race and gender, and these inequalities have endured throughout the post-apartheid period. Unemployment is higher for women than for men, and when women do work, they occupy lower-paying, more precarious jobs than men, and are paid less even when they do the same work (Espi et al, 2019;Gradín, 2018;Mosomi, 2019). In terms of racial inequalities, Gradín (2017) finds that black workers are over-represented in lower-paying jobs, and that this is predominantly due to discrimination rather than differences in the characteristics of white and black workers (Gradín, 2017).…”

Section: The Economics Of Minimum Wages: Understanding and Assessing The Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

Inequality in the South African labour market: The political economy of the national minimum wage

Francis

Valodia

2021

Critical Social Policy

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In 2019, South Africa implemented a national minimum wage (NMW) for the first time. This is an important intervention, given that the South African labour market continues to generate some of the highest levels of income and wealth inequality in the world. The minimum wage is intended as a structural intervention to transform the labour market by setting a wage floor, while highlighting larger issues that continue to reproduce inequality in the labour market. The process raises interesting questions about the role of social dialogue in the policy making process, especially at a time when the roles of experts and evidence are contested in political economy. This article reviews the national minimum wage process from two angles: assessing the economic evidence and examining the political economy of minimum wages in South Africa. We take this approach in order to better understand the roles of evidence and politics in the policy making process. While both processes were contested, important differences emerge from the analysis: the economic lens highlights the intersection of evidence and ideology, while a political economy review identifies important lines of contestation in the policy making process itself. The national minimum wage process shows that institutionalised social dialogue continues to be a central part of the policy making process, but that it cannot be taken for granted: the particular configuration of the social dialogue process and the roles assigned to each player matter.

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“…However, important to note is that this is a simple comparison of female and male (median) pay per hour and does not consider differences in pay due to composition effects such as the level of education and industry or occupation. Studies show that controlling for composition effects results in a larger adjusted gender wage gap [8]. Figure 8 shows the female-to-male wage ratio by race and reveals that the greatest increase in the ratio has occurred among black workers.…”

Section: Female/male Wage Ratiomentioning

confidence: 99%

The labor market in South Africa, 2000–2017

Mosomi¹,

Wittenberg²

2020

izawol

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South Africa differentiated itself in the 20th century by embarking on a social experiment (grand apartheid) which intervened extensively in all facets of its citizens' lives, including the labor market. With the demise of apartheid and reintegration into the world economy, South Africa's 21st century labor market dynamics increasingly resemble those of other economies, with a widening of the earnings distribution, particularly at the top. Nevertheless, there are still important vestiges of the late apartheid era, including a high unemployment rate, significant union power, and persistent racial and gender premia. Cons A low employment rate and stable labor force participation have resulted in high unemployment, especially for youth. Continued demand for skilled labor and a small tertiary educated labor force have led to very high wages at the top of the wage distribution and worsening wage inequality. The median worker seems to be the loser in the South African labor market. While pro-poor policies such as minimum wage laws raise wages at the bottom, high skill premiums have raised wages at the top, leaving median wages stagnant. Pros The labor force has become more educated since 2000. Average earnings increased in the period between 2000 and 2017. While still substantial overall, the gender wage gap declined at the bottom of the wage distribution and at the mean. THE ELEVATOR PITCH The South African economy was on a positive growth trajectory from 2003 to 2008 but, like other economies around the world, it was not spared from the effects of the 2008 global financial crisis. The economy has not recovered and employment in South Africa has not yet returned to its pre-crisis levels. Overall inequality has not declined, and median wages seem to have stagnated in the post-apartheid period. Labor force participation has been stable and although progress has been made, gender imbalances persist.

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Distributional changes in the gender wage gap in the post-apartheid South African labour market

Cited by 24 publications

References 58 publications

Revisiting Poverty, Human Development and Inequality in Democratic South Africa

Revisiting Poverty, Human Development and Inequality in Democratic South Africa

Inequality in the South African labour market: The political economy of the national minimum wage

The labor market in South Africa, 2000–2017

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