The numbers behind economic inequality showed that women do more with less

THIRTY years after the first official National Women's Day, and 69 years after the historic women’s march to the Union Buildings, women in South Africa continue to face barriers to achieving equal participation in the economy.

- IOL REPORTER

From industry concentration and occupational segregation to informal employment and domestic responsibilities, gender gaps persist across the labour market, Statistics South Africa's data has found.

This year’s Women’s Month is marked under the theme Building Resilient Economies for All, underscoring the importance of women's participation in leadership and economic life.

But the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the second quarter of 2025 showed that women remain disproportionately affected by unemployment and economic exclusion, it said.

South Africa’s national unemployment rate was 33.2%, but for women it stood at 35.9%, compared to 31.0% for men a gap of 4.9 percentage points.

Education has not erased these divides. Among graduates, the unemployment rate was 12.2%, yet female graduates face a rate of 15.0% compared to 8.9% for men, recently released data showed.