The gender pay gap is a symptom, not the whole problem
- Mahlatse Rabothata
South Africa has made important progress in advancing women's education, labour market participation and access to occupations from which they were historically excluded. Yet these gains have not translated into equal economic outcomes. Participation alone is not synonymous with economic empowerment; it must also provide access to decent work.
Recent figures indicate that women still earn approximately 78 cents for every rand earned by men. Women also remain significantly underrepresented in senior leadership, holding only 27.6% of top management positions in the private sector and 35.9% in government. These disparities demonstrate that greater inclusion has not eliminated structural inequalities.
The gender pay gap should therefore be understood as a symptom of deeper structural inequalities rather than the problem itself. A working woman’s earned income is shaped by an intersection of occupational segregation, unequal opportunities for advancement, and the disproportionate burden of unpaid care work. Statistics South Africa's latest labour force data illustrates this clearly: women account for 88.2% of those outside the labour force because of homemaking responsibilities, meaning that for every man who is economically inactive due to homemaking, more than eight women are in the same position. Although unpaid care work reproduces the workforce and sustains economic activity, it remains largely invisible in economic policy and undervalued precisely because it falls outside the market and is disproportionately performed by women.
Closing the gender pay gap therefore requires more than equal pay legislation. It requires expanding access to decent work, investment in the social infrastructure that supports care, and creating genuine pathways into leadership. This Women's Month, we should celebrate progress while recognising that economic empowerment means more than participation; it means ensuring that women have access to decent work and equal opportunities.