3.1.1 Policy strategies to elevate women Policies which empower women are also policies which enable the demographic dividend to be realised. Figure 14 below, from the United Nations Population Fund, illustrates policies which can be used to empower adolescent girls to leverage the demographic dividend; these include sexual and reproductive health policies, strengthening institutions, and providing social safety nets and support.64 More specific policy recommendations are described below.
Figure 14: Policies which support women and leverage the demographic dividend
Policies which promote education, sexual and reproductive health, and economic empowerment of women and girls also increase the likelihood of achieving the demographic dividend. The absence of these policies result in a missed demographic dividend. Source: Herrmann, 2017. Demographic transitions, demographic dividends, and poverty reduction. United Nations Population Fund.
Boost women’s labour participation Even with a generous social grants system, labour market income makes up 85% of household income in South Africa.55 As such, improvements in employment are critical to alleviating poverty and inequality. Boosting women’s economic participation not only reduces gender inequality in the labour market but is also particularly effective in alleviating overall poverty and inequality because of how women’s assets are distributed among household members, with knock-on effects for children. Amid the COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa, for example, food insecure women were more likely to shield children from hunger.65 By increasing paid work among women, remunerating and supporting care work, and closing gender gaps in the labour market, countries are expected to be healthier and more productive both now and in the future. Some describe these benefits as ‘gender dividends’.60 This is the responsibility of all employers, be it state or private. Invest in the care economy In addition to providing the bulk of household care, women also constitute the vast majority of most of the care economy (healthcare workers, teachers, early childhood practitioners, domestic workers etc.), in which care providers are notoriously
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INEQUALITY AND DEMOGRAPHY
