Gender' Division of Labour and its Effect on the Socio-Economic Life of Women in Ethiopia: The Case of Yeka and Bole SubCities of Addis Ababa
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Date
2007-07
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Studies conducted at different times in Ethiopia revealed that women are found at a disadvantaged
position. Different factors have been raised for this status of women. Gender division of labour is
one of them, which affects the life of women directly or indirectly. The objective of this study is to
identify the effects of gender division of labor 011 the socio-economic life of women, mainly on their
education, employment, health and leisure. Jt was conducted among women engaged in different
categories of work, particularly, government and private employees in the formal sector,
house wives, pet!y traders, housemaids and commercial sex works. Moreover, key informants were
also involved. In-depth interviews, focus group discllssions and observation were employed to
collect data. The study was conducted in Addis Ababafocusing on two sub-cites, Yeka and Bole.
The findings of the study show that the existing gender division of labor affects the leisllre,
education, employment, and health of women covered in the study. Women, being engaged il1 the
three spheres of work (productive, reproductive and community) live with little leisure or even
without having it at all. In the study, household responsibilities are found to be one obstacle to
women 's educational success. This is because domestic responsibiliry is mainly on the women's
shoulder and men do not share the household chores adequately with women. As a result, women
have no time to pursue their education and other self-development activities. HOllsehold chores
also affected women's free engagement ill paid employment through child care and its repetitive
and time consuming nature. In addition, women 's engagement in the three .spheres of work has
affected their health due to work load and conflicting demands of their time. Moreover, worries
about shortage of household budget affected women's health through depression and stress.
The study has also revealed that women are rarely represented in decision making positions.
Stereorypes play major roles in this respect. Those partiCipants who have reached at the higher
decision making levels are facing some resistance and lack of recognition by co-workers and
customers. In general, women, due to their lower work status in the formal sector and lack of
government regulations in the iliformal sector, face frequent sexual harassll1ent and other violation
of legal and human rights. A number of these are the effects of gender division of labor which is
mainly built upon patriarchal ideology.
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Labour and its Effect on the Socio-Economic