AIAS
Amsterdam Institute for
Advanced labour Studies
An overview of women’s work
and employment in Zambia
Maarten van Klaveren, Kea Tijdens,
Melanie Hughie-Williams, Nuria Ramos Martin
Working Paper 09-80
December 2009
AIAS
University of Amsterdam
December 2009
© M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, N.E. Ramos Martin, M. Hughie-Williams, Amsterdam
Contact: m.vanklaveren@uva.nl
Information may be quoted provided the source is stated accurately and clearly.
Reproduction for own/internal use is permitted.
This paper can be downloaded from our website www.uva-aias.net under the section
Publications/Working papers.
An overview of women’s
work and employment in
Zambia
Decisions for Life MDG3 Project
Country Report no. 4
REVISED EDITION
Maarten van Klaveren
Kea Tijdens,
Melanie Hughie-Williams
Nuria Ramos Martin
AIAS
University of Amsterdam
WP 09/80
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
Page ● 4
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
Table of contents
MANAGEMENT SUMMARY..................................................................................................................7
1. INTRODUCTION: THE DECISIONS FOR LIFE PROJECT .........................................................................11
2. GENDER ANALYSIS REGARDING WORK AND EMPLOYMENT ..................................................................13
2.1. Introduction: the general picture
2.1.1. History
2.1.2. Governance
2.1.3. Prospects
13
13
16
18
2.2. Communication
19
2.3. The sectoral labour market structure
21
2.4. National legislation and labour relations
25
2.4.1. L egislation
2.4.2. L abour relations
2.5. Wage-setting and minimum wage
2.5.1. The statutory minimum wage
2.6. Demographics and female labour force
2.6.1.
2.6.2.
2.6.3.
2.6.4.
2.6.5.
2.6.6.
2.6.7.
2.6.8.
Population and fertility
HIV / A IDS
Women’s labour mark et share
A griculture
Mining and manufacturing
Commerce
Services
Government
2.7. Education and skill levels of the female labour force
2.7.1. L iteracy
2.7.2. E ducation of girls and young women
2.7.3. Female sk ill levels
2.8. Wages and working conditions of the target group
2.8.1. Wages
2.8.2. Work ing conditions
25
27
30
30
34
34
36
38
40
41
42
43
43
44
44
45
46
49
49
54
3. BASIC INFORMATION FOR WAGEINDICATOR QUESTIONNAIRE .............................................................57
3.1. Introduction
57
3.2. List of trade unions
57
3.3. List of educational categories and ISCED levels
59
3.4. List of regions
60
3.5. Lists of ethnic groups and languages
3.5.1. E thnic groups
3.5.2. L anguages
63
63
63
Page ● 5
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................65
WHAT IS WAGEINDICATOR? ...........................................................................................................71
AIAS WORKING PAPERS ................................................................................................................73
INFORMATION ABOUT AIAS ...........................................................................................................79
Page ● 6
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
Management summary
This report provides information on Zambia on behalf of the implementation of the DECISIONS
FOR LIFE project in that country. The DECISIONS FOR LIFE project aims to raise awareness amongst
young female workers about their employment opportunities and career possibilities, family building and the
work-family balance. This report is part of the Inventories, to be made by the University of Amsterdam, for
all 14 countries involved. It focuses on a gender analysis of work and employment.
History (2.1.1). After Zambia gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1964, the Kaunda
administration moved towards a one-party system and central planning. With falling copper prices and poor
management, and the country’s GDP per capita continuing to fall, in 1991 a multi-party democracy was
installed and Kaunda had to retreat. In the 1990s, liberalization and privatisation did not spur economic
growth, while corruption grew. In the 2000s Zambia experienced strong growth, though the country remains one of the world’s poorest.
Governance (2.1.2). Since 1991 Zambia’s political record has been rather stable. Its human rights record,
by contrast, remains rather poor. Especially women and children trafficking is a major problem. The participation of Zambian women in politics is quite limited. Also, they have very limited rights in relation to family
matters, including issues related to land ownership.
Prospects (2.1.3). Recently Zambia has been confronted with the negative effects of lowering copper pric-
es and with a grave electricity situation. The country may escape the worst effects of the current economic
and financial crisis because of its limited integration in the global financial system, though the negative effects on women may be relatively large where their future depends on access to finance.
Communication (2.2). Over 2.6 million cell phones are already in use, one to each five Zambians. Internet
coverage is still low, with in 2007 about 4% of the population as users. Radio is the most utilized medium.
Women constitute only one of six news sources.
The sectoral labour mark et structure (2.3). In 2005, women made up 46% of the total labour force; 49% of
those in informal labour, and 137,000 or 27% of those in formal employment. 78% of the economically
active women worked in agriculture. The share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector was 28%. Unemployment is mainly caused by an absolute lack of jobs, and is especially high among the
Page ● 7
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
young. In 2005, unemployment among girls and young women aged 15-29 in urban areas was 41%.
L egislation (2.4.1). Zambia has ratified the core ILO Labour Conventions, but procedural requirements
frustrate holding legal strikes. Also, women remain severely disadvantaged in employment and education,
notably the overwhelming majority working in the informal economy.
L abour relations (2.4.2). Union strength has been weakened over the years. 2006 estimates point at a union
density of 60 to 66% in the formal economy, or about 10% of the total labour force. Two union confederations are in place, ZCTU and the much smaller FFTUZ.
The statutory minimum wage (2.5.1). Though many advocate a rise of the current statutory minimum wage
(SMW), pointing at the rising costs of living, with Kwacha 268,000 per month the SMW is still at the level
set in May 2006. By then, that level varied from 21 to 91% of monthly average earnings in the main industries. Half a year before setting the SMW rate, 35% of paid employees earned less than that rate.
Poverty (2.5.2). For 2004-05, it has been estimated that 82% of the population lived under the poverty
line of USD 2 per day. Since 1993, the share of the extremely poor has decreased. Yet, especially in rural
areas the poverty pattern continues to be detrimental for the future of women and girls.
Population and fertility (2.6.1). Population growth has been falling recently, from an average 2.4% in 2000-
’07 to an expected 1.9% in 2005-’15. With 6.2 children per women, the total fertility rate remains very high,
as does (with 146 per 1,000) the adolescent fertility rate.
HIV / A IDS (2.6.2). In 2007, over 1.1 million Zambians lived with HIV, and the HIV/AIDS prevalence
rate for those aged 15-49 was estimated at 14%. For women aged 30-39 years the rate was even about 25%.
Yet, HIV prevalence among the 15-24 of age is reported to decrease. Official policies stress that the spread
of HIV/AIDS is related to domestic violence and poor empowerment of women.
Women’s labour mark et share (2.6.3). The labour partication rate of the 15-64 of age overall is 71%, but
only 61% for women. With just over 50%, the 2005 women’s share in employment was highest in agriculture, followed by restaurants and hotels (49%), community, social and personal services (48%), and commerce (45%).
A griculture (2.6.4). The perspectives for agricultural growth are rather bleak. The most female-intensive
sub-sectors are also the least skill-intensive. Thus, young women living in urban areas and trying to make a
career cannot rely on a “fall-back scenario” in which they can go back to their families living from agriculture.
Page ● 8
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
Mining and manufacturing (2.6.5). Trade liberalisation of the 1990s has been disastrous for indigeneous
manufacturing industries such as textiles and clothing, and thus notably for females. The competitive position of domestic-owned, small-scale manufacturing remains very weak.
Commerce (2.6.6). 95-97% of all women working in commerce did so in the informal sector. In 2005
women made up a minority in all sales jobs, but took half of all high-skilled jobs in commerce. Supermarkets are only a quite limited source of employment for women.
Services (2.6.7). Women constitute nearly half of the labour force in commercial services. In 2005 nearly
one third could be found in formal employment. Tourism is an expanding source of employment, but the
development of international call centres does not seem to take off.
Government (2.6.8). The public sector has traditionally been a male stronghold, and still only about one
quarter of public servants is female. The public sector seems to have lost its wage premium, especially for
the high-skilled.
L iteracy (2.7.1). The adult literacy rate –those age 15 and over that can read and write—was in 1995-2005
68%. As the female rate was only 60%, a substantial gender gap remains. Recently this gender gap widens,
in general as well as among the 15-24 year-olds.
E ducation of girls and young women (2.7.2). For 2007, the net enrollment rate in primary education was over
95%, with girls 1%point higher than boys, but the primary completion rate of girls was 11%points lower:
girls make up for the large majority of early school-leavers. With 26% in 2005, the net enrollment rate in
secondary education was rather low, with 23.5% notably for girls. Recently in most categories of technical
vocational training women outnumbered men, but in regular tertiary education there were twice as many
male students
Female sk ill levels (2.7.3). In 2005 64% of the economically active Zambian women were unskilled, nearly
33% had at least completed lower secondary education (skilled), and 66,000 or 3.6% had completed tertiairy
education (high-skilled). We estimate the current size of our target group at about 106,000 girls and young
women 15-29 of age working in urban areas in commercial services, of which only 20,000 in formal employment.
Wages (2.8.1). Earnings vary widely between industries, occupational groups, and urban and rural areas.
Earnings of women in formal employment in finance etc. and in community, social and personal services
are about four times those in trade etc. and in hotels and restaurants. Education may explain part of the
gender pay gap, but discrimination is another factor. Calculated on an hourly earnings basis, the countrywide
Page ● 9
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
gender pay gap in 2005 was 45%, and for paid employees 13%. In restaurants and hotels, transport etc.,
finance etc. and community and other services, the gap was below 20%, but in trade etc. it was 44%.
Work ing conditions (2.8.2). Average working weeks turn out to be quite long in Zambia, for women es-
pecially in restaurants and hotels, transport etc., finance etc., and trade etc., in urban areas, and among paid
employees and high-skilled. In 2005, about one of five of the employed reported illness (excluding HIV/
AIDS), as did a slightly higher share on injury. Workers aged 15-29 reported comparatively much skin problems as well as wounds and deep cuts.
Page ● 10
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
1. Introduction: The Decisions for Life
project
The DECISIONS FOR LIFE project aims to raise awareness amongst young female workers about
their employment opportunities and career possibilities, family building and the work-family balance. The
lifetime decisions adolescent women face, determine not only their individual future, but also that of society: their choices are key to the demographic and workforce development of the nation.
DECISIONS FOR LIFE is awarded a MDG3 grant from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of its strategy to support the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals no 3 (MDG3):
“Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women”. DECISIONS FOR LIFE more specifically focuses on
MDG3.5: “Promoting formal employment and equal opportunities at the labour market”, which is one of
the four MDG3 priority areas identified in Ministry’s MDG3 Fund. DECISIONS FOR LIFE runs from
October 2008 until June 2011 (See http://www.wageindicator.org/main/projects/decisions-for-life).
DECISIONS FOR LIFE focuses on 14 developing countries, notably Brazil, India, Indonesia, the CIS
countries Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and the southern African countries Angola, Botswana,
Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Project partners are International Trade Union
Confederation (ITUC), Union Network International (UNI), WageIndicator Foundation, and University of
Amsterdam/AIAS.
This report is part of the Inventories, to be made by the University of Amsterdam, for all 14 countries
involved. These Inventories and the underlying gender analyses are listed in the Table. All reports will be
posted at the project website. In this country report on Zambia the sequence of the sections differs from
the table. The report covers mainly Activity nr 1.03, the Gender analysis regarding pay and working conditions (or, as Chapter 2 is called here, work and employment). Partly included (in section 2.4.1) is Activity
1.01, Inventories of national legislation; partly the analysis of national legislation has resulted in a separate
product, the DecentWorkCheck for Zambia. Activity 1.02, Inventories of companies’ regulations, will take
place through a company survey. Preparations for Activities 1.03a and 1.03b have resulted in a number of
lists, to be used in the WageIndicator web-survey for country-specific questions and their analyses (Chapter
3). References can be found in Chapter 4; Chapter 5 gives more insight in the WageIndicator.
Page ● 11
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
Table 1 Activities for DECISIONS FOR LIFE by the University of Amsterdam
Nr
Inventories
1.01
Inventories of national legislation
1.02
Inventories of companies’ regulations
1.03
Gender analysis regarding pay and working conditions
1.03a
Gender analysis start-up design of off-line gender analyses inventory
1.03b
Gender analysis data-entry for off-line use inventories
Page ● 12
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
2. Gender analysis regarding work and
employment
2.1. Introduction: the general picture
2.1.1.
History
In the years directly after gaining independency from the United Kingdom (October 1964), Zambia,
the former Northern Rhodesia, had one of the fastest growing economies in the world and its per capita
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was higher than that of countries like South Korea and Singapore. The
driving force was the mining and export of copper, but Zambia was also the world’s largest producer of
cobalt. The United National Independence Party (UNIP) government under once-leader of the campaign
for independence, Kenneth Kaunda, started investing heavily in infrastructure and social services like health
and education. In the 1970s the Zambian government moved towards a one-party state and central planning. From 1974 on, however, Zambia faced sharply falling copper world prices, a decline in the quality of
its ore, and rising oil prices. Moreover, as a consequence of Kaunda’s support to the freedom movements
of South Africa, Southern Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe), Namibia, Mozambique and Angola and, from 1975’76, the civil wars in the latter two countries, the main trade routes were often blocked – a major barrier for
development of a landlocked country. The negative effects of external shocks were aggravated by policy
inconsistencies and poor management.
Between 1974-1990, the Zambian real GDP per capita fell by an average 2.8% per year. The Kuanda
government turned to the US, IMF and World Bank for assistance; first, the international donors lent substantial amounts at reduced rates, but from 1985 on, in line with the “Washington orthodoxy”, Zambia had
to implement Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs). The SAPs met resistance from the trade union
movement but also from within the UNIP (Rakner 2001, 2003). Levels of poverty and unemployment
increased, giving rise to food riots in the country’s Copperbelt region, followed by riots directed against
Kaunda. In July 1990 trade unionists, business leaders and others established the Movement for Multi-Party
Democracy (MMD). Launched as a political party, the MMD, led by ZCTU (Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions)1 secretary general Frederick Chiluba, quickly gained mass support. ZCTU put its organisational
1
ZCTU is sometimes called ‘ZaCTU’, to differentiate from the Zimbabwe union federation with the same initials.
Page ● 13
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
resources at the disposal of MMD (Rakner 2001, 529). Unless obstruction by the Kaunda regime, Zambia
enacted a new constitution, became a multi-party democracy, and elections took place in October 1991. The
result was a landslide victory for the MMD, gaining 125 of the 150 elected seats in the National Assembly
(83%). Kaunda had to retreat (sources: wikipedia; FRONTLINE World website; Nielsen and Rosholm
2001; Meredith 2005; US Dept of State 2009b).
When Chiluba came to power, he inherited an economy with serious problems. By 1991, Zambia’s
external debt had reached USD 7.1 billion. The new government implemented the full orthodoxy of SAP
measures including economic privatisation; removal of import restrictions and subsidies, and cuts in public
expenditure including transport and communications. By 2000 83% of the 280 state enterprises were sold
off (Fashoyin 2008, 392). The CIA (World Factbook) argues that privatization of parastatal copper mines
relieved the government from covering mammoth losses and greatly improved the chances for copper mining to return to profitability and spur economic growth. Yet, the main result was bringing down inflation.
Real GDP growth was modest, while the growth pattern was definitely not pro-poor (or shared). During
the 1990s employment in mining, manufacturing and agriculture fell by 40%, and total formal employment
by 15% (ALRN 2004; Burger et al 2004; FRONTLINE World website). High inflation adversely affected
wages and incomes. Between 1991-1996, median wages declined by 26% in the public sector and by 34% in
the private sector (Nielsen and Rosholm 2001, 171). A safety net to mitigate the negative social effects of
economic restructuring was absent. Poverty increased, and Zambia holds the unenviable record of being the
only country whose Human Development Index (HDI, expressing life expectancy, education and per capita
income) at the end of the millennium was lower than it was in 1975 (Seshamani 2002). In and through the
liberalisation process, the three main interest groups (labour, business and agriculture) were weakened and
fragmented (Rakner, 2001, 2003). MMD’s commitment to economic and political reform waned. In May
1996, Chiluba pushed through constitutional amendements eliminating Kaunda and other opposition leaders from the presidential elections; he was re-elected. In the widely suspected 2001 elections, MMD presidential candidate Levy Mwasawasa, getting 29% of the vote, was declared the victor by a narrow margin.
Corruption had grown dramatically under Chiluba, but the donor community accepted these practices.
When in 2002 president Mwasawasa, referring to Chiluba, alleged theft up to US 80 million, it was rather
neglected that Zambia between 1991-2002 had received massive support from the World Bank, largely
under auspices of the Heavily Indented Poorest Country (HIPC) debt relief programme, that required its
beneficiaries to be corruption-free (Moyo 2009, 53). Mwasawasa outlined policies that aimed at creating
Page ● 14
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
a favourable investment climate, though much had a ‘stop-go’ character. Mwasawasa died in 2008 from a
stroke. With 40% of the vote, vice president Rupiah Banda won the subsequent presidential elections, narrowly defeating the opposition Patriotic Front (PF) candidate.
Zambia’s economy has experienced strong growth in recent years. The pull-out of the Anglo-American
Corporation from the copper industry, in 2002, has had less influence than expected. Mining output increased steadily since 2004, due to higher copper prices and Chinese and UK investments in copper and
cobalt mining (CSO 2009a; wikipedia; Moyo 2009, 105-6). Moreover, the country experienced good harvests in 2004 and 2007, which helped to boost GDP and agricultural exports. Foreign donors have provided
Zambia significant relief from its foreign debt. Under the HIPC programme, the country benefited from
about USD 6 billion debt relief. Zambia also completed a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF)
with the IMF for the period 2008-2011 (US Dept of State 2009a, 2009b). From 2002 on, the country jointly
with IMF and World Bank had embarked upon a Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRSP), which was finally
extended into the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) -- a kind of restoration of economic planning (Seshamani 2002; Cheelo and Zulu 2007). Moreover, China wrote off millions of Zambia’s debt and
provided loans for infrastructural investment (Carmody 2009).
Though Zambia’s economic growth in the early 2000s looked rather fragile, recently it seems more robust. GDP growth per person employed was 2.0% in 2000, 3.1% in 2001, 0.8% in 2002 (a year of massive
droughts), 4.1% in 2003, 3.5% in 2004, 3.2% in 2005 and 4.2% in 2006, the GDP growth rate per person for
2001-2006 of Zambia averaged 3.2%. With growth per person employed rates of 3.5% in 2007 and 3.2% in
2008, the average for 2003-2008 stabilized at 3.2% (MDG Indicator 1.4, derived from UN MDG Indicators).
However, positive growth outturns have been concentrated in mining, trade and construction -- all mainly
capital intensive, urban-based sectors. This type of growth fails to create sufficient jobs due to weak linkages
with the rest of the economy (Cheelo and Zulu 2007, 5). Indeed, between 1998 and 2005 Zambia’s growth
pattern was nearly jobless (see our Table 2). It has been suggested that economic cooperation with China
might lead to more of the country’s mineral wealth be retained (Carmody 2009). For the time being, Zambia
is ranked among the poorest and least developed countries in the world. With (PPP) USD 739 in 2006, per
capita GDP remained very low; only six of 179 countries scored lower. The country’s estimated per capita
earned income was USD 1,273: USD 1,650 for men and USD 897 for women (UNDP 2008a). Thus, the
2006 ratio of the average female to male income was a quite low 0.54.
Page ● 15
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
2.1.2.
Governance
Zambia is a multiparty democracy, although the MMD is considered to exert considerable influence
through its patronage and allotment of government resources. Initially, under the Mwasawasa “New Deal”
government civil society was allowed an input in politics, that notably in the PRSP implementation process
proved rather effective. However, mutual suspicions between government and civil society organisations
continued to abound (Seshamani 2002, 17). A national constitional conference was held in December 2007.
A number of CSOs participated, but key women’s organisations, trade unions and church groups stayed
away, arguing that the majority of delegates was biased towards the ruling MMD (AfDB/OECD 2008,
628).Though president Banda has vowed to continue the corruption-fighting practices of his predecessor,
corruption has emerged again (US Dept of State 2009b). The 2007 A frican Competitiveness Report of the African Development Bank and the World Bank cites corruption as the most problematic constraint on doing
business with and in Zambia. The 2009 Global Corruption Barometer recently launched by Transparency
International (TI) shows that Zambians have little faith in their officials and politicians; 54% of Zambian
respondents viewed public officials and the civil service to be extremely corrupt.
There is an unicameral National Assembly in Zambia (158 seats; 150 members are elected by popular
vote, eight members are appointed by the president), to serve five-year terms. Parliamentary elections were
last held in September 2006, leading to MMD taking a near-majority of 72 seats, with of the other major
parties PF 44 and UDA 27 (CIA World Factbook). In 2008-‘09, 24 seats in parliament were held by women,
leading to the low share of 15.2% (2005: 12.0% -- UN MDG website). At the same time in local government
the female share was only 6.6%, one of the lowest figures in sub-Saharan Africa (website Genderlinks).
Recently there are substantial tensions between the Zambian government and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) operating in the country. In 2007, the government was forced to withdraw the NGO
Bill, which was seeking to regulate their operations, from parliament, after civil society protests argued that
it was a draconian piece of legislature that could not facilitate any meaningful growth of the NGOs in the
country. Non-Governmental Organisation Co-ordinating Council (NGOCC) board chairperson, Marian
Munyinda, whose organisation is the focal point for the women’s movement in the country, stated that
most of the contentious issues that they raised with Government in 2007 have still not been addressed. The
Zambia Council for Social Development (ZCSD), an umbrella group of registered NGOs with a membership of over 100 NGOs and civil society organisations, emphasized that its members firmly believe in selfregulation (IPS 2009).
Page ● 16
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
According to the US State Dept., in 2008 the Zambian government’s human rights record remained
poor, but there were improvements in a few areas. Human rights problems included unlawful killings; torture, beatings, and abuse of criminal suspects and detainees by security forces; poor and life-threatening
prison conditions; arbitrary arrests and prolonged detention; long delays in trials; restrictions on freedom of
speech, press, and assembly; and government corruption and impunity. Additional problems included abuse
of women and children; trafficking in persons; discrimination against persons with disabilities, restrictions
on labor rights; forced labor and child labour. Concerning person trafficking, the US State Dept. notes that
Zambia is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of
forced labor and sexual exploitation, particularly from Angola to Namibia and from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to South Africa for agricultural labour. Many Zambian child labourers, particularly those in
the agriculture, domestic service, and fishing sectors, are also said to be victims of human trafficking, while
Zambian women, lured by false employment or marriage offers abroad, are trafficked to South Africa via
Zimbabwe and to Europe via Malawi for sexual exploitation. Over 2008, the State Dept. judged the Zambian government’s efforts to protect victims of trafficking extremely limited (US State Dept 2009a).
In 1999 a National Gender Policy was introduced, with Gender in Development Division installed in
the Cabinet office (Fashoyin 2002). More recently gender issues, including the MDG3 efforts, have been
allocated to the Ministry of Gender in Development (MOGID). In 2007, the Zambian Decent Work Country Programme (Z-DWCP) has been adopted, and a DWCP Unit has been created in the MOGID. The
two trade union confederations contributed to the identification of the three DCWP priority areas: 1. job
creation for women, young people and people with disabilities; 2. prevention and mitigation of the effects
of HIV and AIDS in the workplace, and 3. elimination of the worst forms of child labour (website ILO
Lusaka; ZFE 2009).
Actually, Zambian women have very limited rights in relation to family matters. Men are traditionally
the heads of families in Zambia, and have sole parental authority. Zambia’s Penal Code entitles victims
of violence (including rape) to press charges and recognises violence as grounds for divorce. But women
are not protected by any specific legislation, and authorities often encourage them to drop the complaints
and return to their husbands. Zambian women experience numerous forms of discrimination in regard
to ownership rights. In rural areas, custom prohibits married women from having access to land. Married
women are entitled to hold land in usufruct, contingent on this use being granted by their husbands. The
vast majority of land in Zambia is owned by men. The difficulties Zambian women experience in obtaining
Page ● 17
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
access to bank loans is related to their lack of ownership rights. Access to loans is vital for Zambian women,
and several institutions have been created to assist them. Many women also rely on informal alternatives:
some acquire financing via tontines; others obtain short-term loans through private lenders, but the rates
are usurious (OECD-SIGI website).
Recently, gender-based violence has attracted growing attention in Zambia. In 2006, the Central Statistical Office (CSO) conducted a survey on the incidence of such violence. 4% of the respondents aged
15-49 years said to have experienced some form of sexual abuse, with more women abused in both rural
and urban areas. The most common place of first sexual abuse was the abuser’s home (27%), the relative’s
home (22%), and the school (15%). Almost one in five (19%) respondents reported that they were slapped
sometimes; for women this share was 23%. 3% (women: 5%) reported being slapped often. Finally, 16%
reported that they had physically hurt their spouse or partner; for men, this share was 20%, for women 12%
(CSO 2007a).
2.1.3.
Prospects
A World Bank research note as of July 2009 clearly states: “The global economic crisis is exposing
households in virtually all developing countries to increased risk of poverty and hardship”, adding “While
in the short-run, the non-poor may be the most affected by the crisis, experience from past economic and
financial crises suggests that the adverse impacts are likely to spread in the medium-term to poor households.” The World Bank note ranks Zambia among the 40 or so developing countries that are highly exposed to the poverty effects of the crisis. With five other countries, it is regarded as the most vulnerable of
all as its government budget has little or no tolerance for larger fiscal deficits (Cord et al 2009). In its World
Factbook, the CIA is more decisive: the decline in world commodity prices and demand will hurt Zambian
GDP growth in 2009, and elections and campaign promises are likely to weaken the country’s improved
fiscal stance. Already in late 2008, slumping copper prices put significant pressure on government revenue
(US Dept of State 2009b), though the IMF (2009a) states that the government responds appropriately. Obviously, the country is helped by the IMF’s and G-20’s decisions to expand lending capacity for low-income
countries (IMF 2009b). As a second serious economic problem, the IMF (2008b) pointed at the grave electricity situation in Zambia, with available generating capacity falling well short of demand. A third serious
problem complex relates to continued dependence on rain for cropping in agriculture, coupled with the
frequent occurrence of droughts (Chello and Zulu 2007). Yet, at an IMF meeting in April 2009, Zambia’s
Minister of Finance and National Planning took a rather optimistic position, saying that his country planned
Page ● 18
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
to put funds toward infrastructure, thus creating the basis for private sector investment (IMF 2009b).
Like other African countries, Zambia may escape the worst effects of the current economic and financial crisis, as its integration in the global financial system is rather limited. Yet, the negative effects on
women may be relatively large, especially where job opportunities for women may be related to access to
financial sources. At a May 2009 Conference, the World Bank vice president for the Africa Region, Obiageli
Ezekwesili, gave an alarming, but research-based account of the impact of the current crisis on women and
girls in Africa: “Poverty has a female face and the global economic downturn will have a significant impact
on women as more of them lose jobs and are forced to manage shrinking household incomes”, she said.
Ms Ezekwesili argued that the global crisis is likely to hit African women on two fronts. First, it will arrest
capital accumulation by women, and second, it will drastically reduce women’s individual incomes as well as
the budgets they manage on behalf of their households. This would have damaging consequences notably
on the girl child; in case of a fall in income from agriculture, girls will be the first to be pulled out of schools,
as evidence from Uganda and Madagascar already shows (World Bank 2009). These warnings seems to connect closely to risks in the situation of girls and (young) women in Zambia.
2.2. Communication
Adequate communication facilities are absolutely essential for the DECISIONS FOR LIFE project. In
Zambia, fixed telephone lines are relatively little in number – about 91,800 in 2007 (7.8 per 1,000 people).
The general assessment is that facilities are aging but still among the best in Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, like in
Africa at large in Zambia the future is on cellular telephone services. In contrast, in 2007 about 2,639,000
mobile telephones were in use, 224 for each 1,000 Zambians. Several cell phone services are in operation
and network coverage is improving (CIA World Factbook).
Internet coverage is low but growing in Zambia, and internet-related services are widely available. Very
small aperture terminal (VSAT) networks are operated by private firms (CIA World Factbook). In December 2007 the country was estimated to have 500,000 Internet users, or 4.2% of the population. In 2008, the
country had 7,165 Internet hosts – 0.66 per 1,000 people ((website Internetworldstats; UN Data).
ZAMTEL is the leading telecom company in Zambia, a result of the splitting up of the Post and Telecommunications Corporation in 1994. Recently, the government announced that it would sell 75% of the
shares in order to save ZAMTEL from collapsing. Obviously, ZAMTEL has failed to compete with regional
Page ● 19
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
mobile service providers including pan-African service providers Zain and MTN (Allafrica website).
High-capacity microwave radio relay connects most larger towns and cities. There are about 30 radio
broadcast stations (CIA World Factbook). The radio is the most utilised mass medium in the country, with
in 2007 74% of the men and 59% of the women aged 15-49 listening at least once a week. These rates
increase with education: 90% of males and 86% of females who reported to have more than secondary education, listened to the radio listening at least once a week compared to 69% of males and 52% of females
with primary education. Second most utilised is television, with again a somewhat higher coverage among
men: 37% of men and 31% of women aged 15-49 watched TV at least once a week. And again, TV coverage rises with education, even strongly: 91% of females and 86% of males who reported to have more than
secondary education, watched TV at least once a week, compared to only 17% of females and 20% of males
with primary education. Least utilised were newspapers, being read at least once a week by 29% of males
and 22% of females. 18% of males and 12% of females reported using all three media at least once a week;
among the females who reported to have more than secondary education, this share was 69%, against 67%
among males with education at the same level (CSO 2009a, 15). Though in Zambia the levels of listening,
looking or reading among women are on average lower than those among men, these gender differences are
smaller than in other Southern African countries.
State-run radio and television services dominate Zambian broadcasting. The Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) has a single-channel, state-run TV station. Community media are also viable in
Zambia: there are several community newspapers and radio stations. Zambia News Agency (ZANA) is the
country’s state-owned news agency, the only mainstream media organisation providing wide news coverage
by well-trained journalists in regional and district offices. ZANA has long-standing relationships with world
news agencies like Reuters (US), Xinhua (China), and DPA (Germany). Like in neighbouring countries, the
low levels of female news sources accessed are a reason for concern. In 2005, the Global Media Monitoring
Project found that women constituted only 17% of news sources in Zambia – some progress to the 13%
found two years earlier (Morna et al 2009, 5).
A recent audit of women and men in Zambian media houses showed that men dominated mostly, including in senior management positions. Women were a majority in part-time jobs with the least job security.
Compared with the 13 other SADC countries researched, there was a somewhat lower share of women in
the editorial departments of media houses: 38% against 42%. Remarkably, women constituted over half
(54%) of the technically skilled staff. With a few exceptions, the gendered division of labour is also pro-
Page ● 20
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
nounced in reporting, with male journalists dominating in the “hard” beats and females in entertainment
and lifestyle. Only a minority of media houses had gender policies, and none of them offered child-care
facilities. According to both women and men involved, the main reason for the underrepresentation of
women in media houses is the difficulty of juggling responsibilities (Morna et al 2009).
2.3. The sectoral labour market structure
Statistical data on the labour market structure and trends in employment in Zambia are rather limited.
For recent figures we have to rely on the outcomes of the Labour Force Survey held in November/December 2005 (CSO 2007c). Because of changing definitions, these are rather difficult to compare with the more
detailed (yearly) official employment statistics of the 1990s. Table 2 presents a comparison between 1998
and 2005 for employment in large sectors and categories, both in absolute numbers (x 1,000 headcount) and
in shares of the labour force (economically active population).
Table 2. Type of employment by sector, Zambia, 1998 and 2005, x 1,000 (headcount) and in % of total
labour force
1998
2005
Labour force x 1,000
4,579
4,919
Labour force
100%
100%
Employment x 1,000
4,033
4,131
88%
84%
Employment in % of labour force
Unemployment x 1,000
Unemployed in % of labour force
formally employed x 1,000
formally employed in % of labour force
central government x 1,000
of
which
788
16%
467
495
12%
12%
117
128
local government x 1,000
13
6
parastatal companies x 1,000
68
81
269
281
3,566
3,636
private companies x 1,000
informally employed x 1,000
informally employed in % of labour force
of
which
549
12%
88%
88%
paid inf. employee x 1,000
238
206
paid inf. employee in % of labour force
6%
5%
2,106
1,838
self-employed x 1,000*)
self-employed in % of labour force
unpaid family worker x 1,000
unpaid family worker in % of labour force
52%
44%
1,222
1590
30%
38%
Sources: Burger et al 2004, 5; CSO 2007c
*)
incl. employers
Page ● 21
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
In the last two decades the share of the formal labour market in employment in Zambia has fallen, from
15% of all employed in 1991 to 12% in 1998 and 2005. The largest category of all employed are the selfemployed (including employers, accounting for about 1%). Yet, that part decreased rapidly after 1998, from
52% to 44% of the total labour force, mirrored by a rise of the share of unpaid family workers from 30%
to 38%. Unpaid family workers are overall the second largest category but concerning women the largest.
In 2005, over half of all women (53%) in the Zambian labour force were unpaid family workers, whereas
34% were self-employed and 12% paid employees. The corresponding shares for men were respectively
26%, 51% and 22%. A third category of informally employed are those employees paid in kind or in cash
other than in regular wages. In 2005 this category covered about 119,000 men and 87,000 women, 5.4%
and 4.5% of the respective labour forces. Jointly with the employees engaged in formal labour, the total
number of paid employees by then reached 702,000, 17% of those employed: 478,000 men, or 21.6% of
all males employed, and 224,000 women, or 11.7% of all females employed (authors’ calculations, based on
CSO 2007c).
Within the formal sector, figures on developments in the size of the central government reflect the
‘stop-go’ character of Zambian economic policies. Whereas the central governmental labour force decreased in the 1990s, from 132,000 in 1996 to about 101,000 in 2000, it recovered to nearly 128,000 in 2005.
Though in weakened form, the same holds for the parastatal companies. drastic cuts in the 1990s diminished
their labour force with 47,000, from 115,000 in 1996 to 68,000 in 1998, but renewed expansion resulted in
81,000 employed in 2005. In contrast, the size of the local government continued to decrease, from 17,000
in 1996 to 6,400 in 2005. The formal private sector, in 1996-98 growing by 54,0002, afterwards only showed
a slight growth (Fashoyin 2002, 2008; CSO 2007c).
Table 3 shows employment in 2005 by industry, gender and sector, divided in formal and informal
labour. It is based on our own calculations on Labour Force Survey (LFS) data, as the published LFS data
concentrates heavily on the informal sector and does not divide formal employment by industry and gender.3 From the table it can derived that women in 2005 made up 46% of the total labour force; 49% of those
in informal labour, and 137,000 or 27% of those in formal employment. Nearly 93% of all economically
active women do so in informal labour. Informal labour is most widespread in agriculture (99%), followed
by commerce (trade, wholesale and retail, 89%) as well as transport, storage and communication (also 89%),
and construction (66%). By contrast, manufacturing has by far the largest share of formal labour (93%),
2
3
This growth can only partly be attributed to the effects of privatisation, as between 1996 and 1999 about 27,000 workers had
been made redundant in privatised companies, of whom 20,000 miners (Fashoyin 2002, 7).
Moreover, the rows in the crucial Tables 8.12 and 8.13 are totally mixed up (compare with CSO 2007c, Table 6.13).
Page ● 22
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
followed by mining (69%). Among female workers informal labour is again most widespread in agriculture
( 99%), followed by commerce (97%).
Table 3 Employment by sector, industry and gender, Zambia, 2005, x 1,000 headcount
males
females
formal
informal
total
Agriculture, fishing etc.
21
1,453
Mining
38
14
109
Electricity, gas, water supply
10
Construction
19
Trade, wholesale, retail
34
Restaurants, hotels
6
Transport, storage, communication
6
Manufacturing
formal
informal
total
1,474
8
1,501
1,509
52
1
3
4
6
115
45
6
51
4
14
0
3
3
33
52
0
4
4
188
222
6
172
178
11
17
7
9
16
73
79
4
5
9
Finance, insurance, real estate
18
16
34
5
2
7
Community, social, personal serv.
98
53
151
61
76
137
0
2
2
0
0
0
359
1,855
2,214
137
1,781
1,918
not stated
Total
Source: authors’ calculations based on CSO 2007c
In 2005 nearly three out of four (72%) in the Zambian economically active population worked in agriculture: just over 1.5 million women, or nearly 79% of all women, and 67% of all men. For both women
and men, with 9% respectively 10% of employment commerce (trade, wholesale and retail) was the second
main source of employment, with community, social and personal services in third place, employing 7% for
both genders. Just 3% of all economically active women were engaged in manufacturing, compared to 5%
of all men (See for female shares more detailed Table 5, section 2.6.3). If one only looks at formal employment, community, social and personal services shows up as the most important industry for women, with
in 2005 about 61,000 women, representing about 45% of all females in formal employment, followed by
manufacturing with about 45,000 (33%). Women made up 38% respectively 29% of the formal labour force
in these two industries. As Table 3 shows, the other industries all deployed only small amounts of women.
It can be derived from the table that the share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector
(MDG Indicator 3.2) was 28%.
Again according to the 2005 Labour Force Survey, nearly 78% of all females in the labour force and
67% of the males worked part-time, defined as working less than 40 hours per week. The lowest share of
female parttimers was found in finance, insurance and real estate (20%), followed by hotels and restaurants
(23%), transport and communication (29%), and community, social and personal services (38%). With
86%, the part-time rate was highest in agriculture etc. As for occupational groups, the share of female partPage ● 23
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
timers was lowest among “professional, technical and related”(17%), followed by “sales”(39%), “clerical
and related”(46%) and “production and related”(47%). We will see in section 2.8.2 that these rankings fit
rather well, but not fully, with rankings of the length of the working week by industries and occupations. In
the Labour Force Survey 2005 the Central Statistical Office (CSO) has used data on the number of hours
worked to calculate the size of underemployment, defined as the proportion of employed persons working
less than 40 hours per week (CSO 2007c, 37). As we think this concept is rather confusing, we refrain from
further analysis in this direction.
We now turn to unemployment. The last time unemployment was measured in Zambia, was through the
2005 Labour Force Survey. It showed an overall unemployment rate of 16% (the share of the labour force
that was unemployed in the last seven days), compared with the 10% rate measured in 1999. With 17%,
female unemployment was higher than male (14%). Unemployment in Zambia is predominantly an urban
phenomenon, as the overall urban unemployment rate of 28% (rural: 10%), the urban male rate of 23%
(rural: 9%) and especially the urban female unemployment rate of 36% (rural: 10%) showed. Also, unemployment spells have been reported to last longer in urban areas (Burger et al 2004, 2). Disquieting high was
in the urban areas especially the incidence of unemployment among youngsters, especially girls and young
women. In urban areas in 2005 over half of all 15-19-year olds (59%) was unemployed: 61% of the girls
in this age and 57% of the boys. In the next higher age cohort of 20-24-olds, again over half (56%) of the
females in the urban areas was unemployed, against 38% of males: the gender gap widens here. For the 2529-year olds, the unemployment rates were lower, though with 31% of females and 19% of males still rather
high (CSO 2006b). We calculated (based on CSO 2006b, 2007c) the incidence of unemployment among the
girls and women 15-29 of age in urban areas, for 2005 to be 41%, or 177,000 unemployed on a labour force
of 432,000. These outcomes are the more remarkable as the educational levels of the under 30 cohorts are
superior to those of older cohorts. The outcomes confirm that in Zambia unemployment is not a problem
of lack of skills (Burger et al 2004), but of an absolute lack of jobs. Even many university graduates count
among the unemployed (Nielsen and Rosholm 2001). There are no signs that after 2005 the employment
situation for young people in the Zambian cities has improved substantially.
Page ● 24
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
2.4. National legislation and labour relations
2.4.1.
Legislation
Zambia has ratified the eight core ILO Labour Conventions 29, 87, 98, 100, 105, 111, 138 and 182.
Workers generally have the right to form and join trade unions. The right to collective bargaining is recognised by law. Workers have the right to strike, and workers enjoy certain legal protections against an
employer’s retribution for strike activities. However, the ITUC notes that the right to strike is subject to a
long series of procedural requirements, so that it is almost impossible for workers to hold a legal strike. As
a result, no legal strikes have been held in Zambia since 1994 (ITUC 2009b).
The 2009 ITUC report on core labour standards in Zambia finds major shortcomings in the application of the core Conventions in the country. The Zambian law prohibits discrimination on the basis of
race, tribe, political opinion, colour, creed or sex; the country has ratified the ILO Conventions against
discrimination. Yet, according to the 2009 ITUC report women remain severely disadvantaged in employment and education. The report finds that in some sectors men are paid twice as much as women for work
of equal value, while labour market segregation is high with women being concentrating in low-skilled, low
wage sectors. The report also highlights cases of discrimination against people infected by HIV/AIDS.
Moreover, the ITUC concludes that child labour remains a serious problem in the country, despite Zambia’s
ratifications of Conventions 138 and 182, as well as legal measures to eliminate child labour and a growing
number of workplace inspections4 (ITUC 2009b). The ILO notes that significant numbers of workers do
not benefit from Zambia’s ratification of the Conventions as they work in the informal sector: “The majority of these workers are women who are often exposed to personal, financial, economic and social risks
and other vulnerabilities culminating from their need to find employment and generate income” (Times of
Zambia 2008).
The Employment Act (CAP 268) is the basic employment law, and provides for the basic employment
contractual terms such as minimum contractual age; establishment of employment contracts; settlement of
disputes arising from such contracts, and conditions of employment as leave facilities. It is at the centre of
the casualisation and contingent employment in the country (Fashoyin 2008, 397). Zambia has limited social
protection schemes, the most important being the two pension schemes. The National Pension Scheme
4
In the CSO Child Labour Survey Report of 2005, the incidence was estimated at 895,000 children working, of which 46%
were between the ages of 10 to 14. An estimated 786,000 children aged from 5 to 17 years were found to be in hazardous
work. The results indicate that child labour is predominantly a rural phenomenon, with 92% of all working children residing
and working in rural areas (ITUC 2009b).
Page ● 25
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
Authority (NAPSA) in principle covers all (formal!) private sector workers; mandatory contributions are set
at 5% of the wage by both the participating worker and the employer. However, employers’ practices of not
paying their contributions seem widespread, leading to nasty surprises for workers when it comes to claim
their pension rights (Petrauskis 2005; ZCTU 2006) The Public Service Pensions Fund (PSPF) is the publicservice equivalent of NAPSA, leading an ailing existence as from 2000 on newly recruited public servants
have to join NAPSA (Fashoyin 2002).
Of particular relevance for the young female target group of the DECISIONS FOR LIFE project are
the following legal regulations (see section 2.5.1):
● (maternity leave): Every female employee who has completed at least two years of continuous service
with her employer from the date of first engagement or since the last maternity leave taken, as the case
may be, shall, on production of a medical certificate as to her pregnancy signed by a registered medical
practitioner, be entitled to maternity leave of twelve weeks with full pay (Employment Act (No. 57 of
1965)[as amended] (Chapter 268) (1996 Revised Edition, Volume 15)
●
(paid annual leave): An employer shall grant leave of absence on full pay to an employee at the rate
of two days per month (Employment Act (No. 57 of 1965)[as amended] (Chapter 268) (1996 Revised
Edition, Volume 15)
● (special leave): An employer is obliged to grant an employee seven days’ paid leave on the death of an
employee’s spouse, child, mother or father (Employment Act (No. 57 of 1965)[as amended] (Chapter
268) (1996 Revised Edition, Volume 15)
● (sexual harassment): No employer shall terminate the services of an employee or impose any other penalty or disadvantage on any employee, on grounds of race, sex, marital status, religion, political opinion
or affiliation, tribal extraction or status of the employee. Any employee who has reasonable cause to
believe that the employees’ services have been terminated or that the employee has suffered any other
penalty or disadvantage, or any prospective employee who has reasonable cause to believe that the employee has been discriminated against, on any of the grounds mentioned may, within thirty days of the
occurrence which gives rise to such belief, lay a complaint before the Court claiming a compensation
for damages and/or an order for re-employment or reinstatement in accordance with the gravity of the
circumstances of each case (Employment Act (No. 57 of 1965)[as amended] and The Industrial and
Labour Relations (Amendment) Act, 2008)
Page ● 26
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
● (weekend work compensation): An employee who works on a paid public holiday or on a Sunday where
a Sunday does not form a part of the normal working week shall be paid at double the employee’s
hourly rate of pay (Minimum Wages and Conditions of Employment (General) Order, 2002 (S.I. No.
2 of 2002))
2.4.2.
Labour relations
The Industrial and Labour Relations Act (CAP 269) (ILRA) conducts industrial relations, including
collective bargaining and the establishment of workers’ and employers’ organisations, their registration and
their administration. The Act was introduced in 1964, with major revisions in 1971, 1990, 1993 and 1997.
The 1993 and 1997 changes were particularly important as they were designed to support economic liberalisation. The Joint Industrial Council (JIC) system, created to institutionalize collective bargaining, survived
the changes, but the 1997 amendment to the ILRA removed the mandatory nature of the JICs. It allowed
employers the freedom as to whether they wanted to conduct collective bargaining at industry or at company level (Fashoyin 2008, 397).
The Kaunda regime had tried to subordinate the trade union movement. Though these efforts were
unsuccessful, a number of policy initiatives, such as making the ZCTU the sole labour centre in the country,
the “one union per industry” policy of 1971 combined with the JIC system, and the creation of workers’
participation through a system of works councils,5 were instrumental in creating a strong labour movement.
At its peak in 1991, the ZCTU union confederation had a total membership of 480,000 in 17 affiliated unions (Fashoyin 2008, 395). However, from the beginning of MMD rule in 1991, the trade unions were sidelined in policy-making. The Chiluba administration –though led by a former ZCTU president—promptly
adopted a policy of not consulting with ZCTU. The privatization issue, moreover, in 1994 led to a division
within the ZCTU confederation. The miners’ union, MUZ, endorsed the plans for privatizing Zambia
Consolidated Coppermines (ZCCM), while the confederation opposed them, resulting in the split of MUZ
and four other unions –representing 40% of membership-- from ZCTU (Rakner 2001; ALRN 2004). In
2001-2002, MUZ and three other unions returned to ZCTU, while the fourth, the financial workers’ union
(ZUFIAW), continued to form the nucleus of the FFTUZ (Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia)
that had started in 1998, and which also was joined by two teachers’ unions. To our knowledge currently 35
5
The system of works councils was phased out in the 1993 amendment of the ILRA. The same amendment created the Tripartite Consultation and Labour Council (TCLC), to serve as the national forum for tripartite dialogue on broad social and
economic development issues (Fashoyin 2002, 2008).
Page ● 27
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
national trade unions are registered, of which 30 affiliated to ZCTU, three to FFTUZ, while two are independent. ZCTU in turn is affiliated with ITUC.
Initially official policies on collective bargaining in Zambia were progressive. As far back as 1961, workers’ organisations were granted the right to organize for collective bargaining purposes in both the private
and public sectors. With policy emphasis on industry-wide bargaining, collective bargaining coverage in the
1970 and 1980 was nearly 80%. In the course of the 1990s, besides the liberalisation policies of government
also new management strategies of privatised firms posed serious challenges to the union movement. With
the abolition of the mandatory JICs, collective bargaining definitely was decentralised, forcing the unions to
bargain at company level. An extension mechanism linked up with the JIC system, allowing all workers, irrespective of their union membership status, or workers in an enterprise that did not sign the collective agreement, to be covered by that agreement (Fashoyin 2008, 397), seems hardly to function as well. Actually in the
expanding service and manufacturing sectors, as well as generally in the small and medium-sized enterprises,
collective bargaining is virtually non-existent. It seems limited to mining, finance, part of agriculture, and
the public service. In the public sector, collective bargaining covers over 90% of eligible workers. Yet in
this sector unions have a hard time going too, as both the Chiluba and Mwanawasa administrations repeatedly took refuge to wage freezes on governmental workers. In 2004, an IMF-inspired wage freeze led to a
national strike (Muneku 2002; Koyi 2006a; Fashoyin 2008, 398-9). Though in the mining industry, once the
major trade union stronghold, collective bargaining is still existing, the union position is deteriorating here
as well. The ITUC argues that the fundamental rights of workers and their representatives are being increasingly flouted, and notably Chinese mine owners are often accused of intimidating and brutal attitudes. Trade
union delegations are faced with employers trying to avoid any social dialogue (ITUC 2009a, 2009b).
Zambian trade unions traditionally organise the formal sector. In 2002, the best organized industries
here were construction (88%), mining (81%), utilities (electricity, gas and water, 79%), and finance, real
estate and business services (43%). In that year, the public sector accounted for almost half of total union
membership, with construction, energy and mining as the second largest concentration with nearly 20%.
Hotels, trade, transport and manufacturing, sectors where mostly women are organized, took another 12%
(Muneku 2002). It has been argued that, with the rapidly growing casualisation and contingent employment,
Zambian unions will have to look at ways of broadening their membership base as to include casual workers and those in the informal economy (ALRN 2004; Fashoyin 2008). Indeed, the ZCTU confederation
in 1998 was at the basis of the Centre for Informal Employment Promotion (CISEP), targeting mainly the
Page ● 28
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
unemployed, including retrenched and retired workers and providing entrepreneurship training and employment services (ALRN 2004, 5). Also, a number of organisations of informally employed appeared, often
supported by international NGO’s. One of them, the Alliance of Zambia Informal Economy Associations
(AZIA, also spelled AZIEA), was an associate member (without voting rights) of ZCTU. In 2006, AZI(E)
A reported an active membership of about 50,000, but obviously their relationship with ZCTU did not last.
Another organising approach is to recruit semi-organised informal workers’ groups and transform them
into regular unions, like ZCTU did with the Bus Drivers’ and Motorists’ Association. Yet, that approach has
met quite some suspicion of informal workers (Koyi 2006b, 9, 12). In 2006, ZCTU membership –excluding
AZI(E)A-- stood at 281,000 (ZCTU 2006).
Like in politics, the position of Zambian women in the trade union movement seems rather weak. Until
2002, in ZCTU no affirmative action had been undertaken to promote female participation in union leadership. By that time, male dominance in the leadership of ZCTU and its affiliates was clear, with the female
share being 20% or even much less (Muneku 2002). Actually, FFTUZ has a female president, Joyce Nonde.
She is also chairing the ZUFIAW union and, internationally, is acting vice president of UNI Africa. By 2006,
FFTUZ claimed to have a membership of 50,000, though earlier figures were about 20,000 (Fashoyin 2008).
In May 2008, ZCTU and FFTUZ agreed to work together in pushing the government to consult the union
movement in the labour law reform process (blog Mine Watch Zambia 20086). Depending on the FFTUZ
membership, total 2006 union membership varied between 301,000 and 331,000 or between 60 and 66% of
those formally employed, but only about 10% of total (formal and informal) employment.
The Zambia Federation of Employers (ZFE) is the main umbrella organisation for employers, established in 1965. At its peak in 2001, the federation had a total individual membership of 320 enterprises, a
figure estimated to be far less than half of its potential membership. As of 2006, the ZFE still had about 200
individual enterprise members, mainly from the large and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and 15 sectoral
associations across industry. The “new” investors, preferring individual contracts and repeatedly taking an
anti-union stand, have shunned membership in the ZFE. The weakness of ZFE has been aggravated as the
leading employers have shown a reluctance to fully support the federation (Fashoyin 2008, 396-7).
6
Jointly with UNI, both confederations complained that the government neglected the TCLC in the process of amending the
ILRA. According to the complaint, only eight of the 28 proposed amendments were discussed in the tripartite forum. All 20
other clauses were in violation of the ILO Labour Standards and the Zambian Constitution (UNI 2008).
Page ● 29
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
2.5. Wage-setting and minimum wage
2.5.1.
The statutory minimum wage
In 1997, the Minimum Wages and Employment Act, which protected the workers in formal employment, was amended by the Minimum Wages and Conditions of Employment (Shop Workers) Order of
1997, now called the Minimum Wages and Conditions of Employment Act (CAP 276). According to the
new act, the Minister decides on the minimum wage alone, as the government has no longer an obligation
to consult with stakeholders such as trade unions.
Since May 2006, according to the Minimum Wages and Conditions of Employment Order 2006 the
statutory minimum wage (SMW) for employees in the formal sector stands at Kwacha 268,000 per month,
based on the legal maximum working week of 48 hours. The SMW does not apply to a number of categories: casual workers7; domestic workers; government employees, and, rather curiously, “occupations where
wages and conditions of employment are regulated through the process of collective bargaining under the
ILRA”.8 It thus is typically a last-resort arrangement. By mid-2009, the SMW rate was equivalent to USD
58. Based on earnings data as of end 2005 (see section 2.8.1), the equivalent SMW rate (Kwacha 250,000)
can be calculated at 85% of the average monthly earnings of the total labour force (Kwacha 294,000), but at
only 36% of the average monthly earnings of paid employees (Kwacha 694,000). By that time, about 70%
of paid employees were employed in the formal sector. The huge variation in earnings across industries and
occupations should be taken into account here. By 2005-’06 the SMW rate varied from 21% of the average
earnings in the industry with the highest average earnings, finance etc., to very high shares in the industries
with the lowest average earnings (if we leave out agriculture etc.): 86% in trade, wholesale and retail, and
91% in the restaurant and hotel industry. If, again, we take the equivalent SMW rate of Kwacha 250,000 as
a starting point, by the end of 2005 35% of paid employees earned less than that rate. Across industries,
the share of those employed below the SMW rate varied from 6% in mining to 77% in trade, wholesale and
retail. Across occupational groups, 71% in “clerical and related” earned below the SMW rate, as did 62%
working in sales occupations. A considerable part of the labour force was only able to evade earnings less
7
8
Nor do job security, allowances or redundancy benefits. The Employment Act 1997 defines a casual employee as any employee
the terms of whose employment provide for his or her payment at the end of each day and who is engaged for a period of no
more than six months. Before 1997, that period was less than 24 hours, thus limiting casualisation strongly. Casualisation under
Zambian conditions can be understood as the re-hiring of casual workers on contracts less than six months to fill positions
that are permanent in nature, which is not illegal anymore (Petrauskis 2005, 7).
Obviously assuming that employees under collective bargaining regimes are non-vulnerable, which can be questioned on good
grounds (cf. Petrauskis 2005, 12-3). The SMW has to be separated from the minimum (lowest) wage set by collective bargaining in for example mining and related metal manufacturing (Koyi 2006a, 21).
Page ● 30
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
than the SMW by working very long hours (see section 2.8.1 and Table 8).
The conclusion seems inevitable that already in 2006 the SMW rate was set quite low, also compared
to the costs of living. For example, for August 2005 a church organisation calculated a basic needs basket,
expressing that a family of six living in Lusaka needed Kwacha 1,359,000 to afford essential food and
non-food items. The cost of essential food items already totalled Kwacha 514,000 (Petrauskis 2005, 4, 17).
Notably in agriculture it is a common practice among employers to adopt the SMW as the going wage rate
(Fashoyin 2008, 398): another indication of the low level of the SMW.
Recently many workers and their unions issue complaints that the low minimum wage is growingly
putting pressure of wages of even the better paid, like in call centres (Kabange 2009b). From May 2006 to
May 2009, the consumer price index has cumulatively gone up by 42%(authors’ calculation, based on CSO
2009a). Inflation has been the reason for the unions, the Anti-Voter Apathy Project (AVAP) and even the
Zambia Federation of Employers (ZFE) to call on the government to review the minimum wage. In March
2008, trade unionists proposed an increase of the minimum wage to Kwacha 600,000, again in view of the
rising costs of living. They also proposed some amendments to the statutory instrument number 57 of 2006
that looks at the minimum wage and conditions of employment (Lusaka Times 2008a). The Labour
Law Reform Committee has started to review the current minimum wage act, but by August 2009 a
definite decision of the Minister for Labour and Social Security was still lacking (Lusaka Times 2008b;
Kabange 2009b).
Concerning compliance with the minimum wage legislation, the inspection capacity of the labour ministry has recently been characterised as limited and inefficient. Moreover, the authorities are rather wavering
in giving unequivocal support for the enforcement of existing labour standards (Fashoyin 2008, 398, 401).
1.1.1. Poverty
For 2004-‘05, based on the CSO’s Living Conditions Monitoring Survey (LCMS) it was estimated that
81.5% of the Zambian population lived below the common UN yardstick of USD 2 a day (in PPP terms),
and that 64.3% had to make ends meet with an income below USD 1 a day. The latter share was especially
high in rural areas (78%), but also in urban areas it included more than half of the population (53%). If this
USD 1 yardstick is applied, in the sub-Saharan region only Mozambique (75%) and Malawi (74%) are doing
worse (MDG Indicator 1.1, derived from UN MDG Indicators).
Page ● 31
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
The outcomes of the successive Living Conditions Monitoring Surveys suggest that from 1993 on the
incidence of poverty diminished over the years. While in 1993 84% of the Zambian population lived below
the national poverty line, defined as a basic needs basket, this share gradually fell to 68% in 2004 and 64%
in 2006. The fall in the share of the extremely poor was most clear: whereas this share in 1993 was 76%, it
decreased to 53% in 2004 and 51% in 2006. The share of the moderately poor grew from 8% in 1993 to
15% in 2004, and seemed to have fallen slightly to 14% by 2006. In rural areas, after a fall in the early 1990s
with 10%points to 80% in 1996, poverty incidence remained at about 80%. The recent overall fall is caused
by a continuous and substantial decrease in urban poverty, from 80% in 1993, via 53% in 2004, to 44% in
2006.9 With an urbanisation degree of 34% (see section 2.6.1), this decrease has had quite some influence on
the total outcomes. Especially in the Lusaka Province the poverty incidence recently fell substantially, from
48% in 2004 to 29% in 2006 (though it has to be noted that, with 31%, the latest level was already nearly
reached in 1991). The recently reported decrease was also considerable in the Copperbelt: from 56 to 42%
in two years’ time (CSO 2009c). Unfortunately, very little is known about (the causes of) mobility in and out
of poverty in Zambia (Seshamani 2002).
The income distribution in Zambia remains quite uneven. In terms of the Gini coefficient, an income
distribution measure that rates 0 as perfect equality and 100 as perfect inequality, inequality among households was for 2004 estimated at 0.51, across countries a rather high score (UNDP 2008b). Also in 2004, the
share of the poorest 10% in consumption was 1.2%, that of the poorest 20% 3.6% -- both comparatively
low figures (MDG Indicator 1.3, derived from UN MDG Indicators). In material terms, the situation of considerable parts of mainly the urban population has improved in the 2000s, but progress goes rather slow.
Especially in rural areas very many are still in need of fullfilling basic needs. For example, while in 1990
50% of the population had no access to a safe (in UN terms improved) water source, in 2006 this share was
still 42%. Whereas in 2006 about 59% of rural households reported having no access to safe water sources,
this was the case for 10% of their urban counterparts. In 1990 56% of the population had no access to
improved sanitation, while in 2006 this share was 48%: 49% in rural areas and 45% in urban areas (WHO
2009). In that year, 13% of households did still not have any toilet facility. Also in 2006, about 19% of the
country’s households had access to electricity. In the urban areas nearly half (49%) of all households had
access to electricity, but in rural areas this was just 3% (CSO 2007b, 2008; UN MDG Indicators).
9
Our calculation, based on CSO 2009c -- contrary to the analysis in the regular CSO leaflet (2009e), the latter most likely misled
by typing errors in the urban rows of the Poverty trends 1991-2006 table in CSO 2009a-c.
Page ● 32
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
A number of specific programmes to fight poverty have been launched in Zambia in the 2000s, like
the Public Welfare Assistance Scheme (PWAS), a group of Social Cash Trasfer Schemes financed by international donors and implemented under the PAWS; the Food Security Pack (FSP), a government-funded
scheme providing basic agricultural inputs, technology transfer and training to vulnerable small-scale family
households; the School-Feeding Programme, funded by the World Food Programme, and Project Urban
Self-Help, a government-funded public works programme. Although intended to provide assistance to a
wide range of poor and vulnerable groups, the effective scope of coverage of these programmes seems
quite small. Even PAWS, the oldest and largest scheme, though targeting 2% of the population, reaches
much smaller numbers of people (socialsecurityextension website).
The distribution of poverty in Zambia is gendered, though not that sharply like in South Africa and
Mozambique. In 1998, 2004 and 2006 Zambian poverty levels for female-headed households (in 2005 one
quarter of all households – CSO 2007c) were higher than those of male-headed households. In 2006, 70%
of the female-headed households lived below the national poverty line, against 63% of the male-headed
households -- a gender gap of 7%points. Compared to 1998 and 2004, when the gap was 5%points, it has
widened. In 2006, 57% of the female-headed households were extremely poor, against 49% of the maleheaded households. The increase of the non-poor share among the female-headed households, from 23 to
29%, that could be noted between 1998-2004, came to a halt in the next two years, remaining at 29% (CSO
2007b). As has been analysed in greater detail for Mozambique, as a rule female-headed households in
Southern Africa are more vulnerable, because they often have fewer assets and fewer productive resources
(see our Country report No. 1 on Mozambique). However, in some rural areas in Zambia, like the NorthWestern Province, this may not clearly be the case, as the share of female-headed households that were
non-poor, consistently has been above the male share (CSO 2006b).
The human development index (HDI) remains quite low for Zambia. With a score of 0.453 in 2006,
the country ranked 163rd on a total of 179 countries -- among its neighbouring countries lower than South
Africa, Botswana, Malawi, Angola, Tanzania and Uganda, and only higher than Mozambique. Nevertheless,
it was a positive sign that in the 2000s the fall of the country’s HDI score from 1985 on came to a halt and
that the period 2000-2006 showed an increase in this score of 0.043%-points, mainly caused by the lowering of extreme poverty. Zambia’s position in the Gender-adjusted Development Index (GDI) was, with a
no. 140 ranking among 157 countries, about the same. Its GDI value was 98.0% of its HDI value. Out of
the 157 countries with both HDI and GDI values, 120 countries have a better ratio than Zambia’s (UNDP
Page ● 33
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
2008). For 2008 the Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum ranked Zambia 106th of 130 countries, with its index over time displaying a disquieting widening of the gender gap, especially in the fields of
education and health. For the position of women in economic partication and opportunity, Zambia ranked
94th, in educational attainment 115th, in health and survival 112th, and concerning political empowerment
78th (Hausmann et al 2008).
2.6. Demographics and female labour force
2.6.1.
Population and fertility
According to the ILO (Laborsta database), the population of Zambia by the end of 2008 stood at
12,154,000, of which 6,093,000 female (50.2%). In 1975, the population was 5.0 millions, indicating an
annual growth rate between 1975-2005 of 2.7%. More recently the growth rate is slowing down, from an
average 2.4% in 2000-2007, via 1.9% in 2008, to an expected 1.6% in 2009. The United Nations expect the
average for 2005-2015 to be 1.9%, resulting in 13.8 million Zambians by 2015. Actually, the median age is
very low: 17.0 years overall, for males 16.9 and for females 17.2. The birth rate estimated for 2009 is 40.2
births per 1,000 population, the death rate 21.3 deaths per 1,000 (CIA World Factbook). The urbanisation
degree is with about one third rather low: according to the 2005 Labour Force Survey 66% of all households
were rural, 34% urban. With on average 5.1 members, the urban households were slightly higher than the
rural households (average 5.0). As noted, by then 25% of all households were female-headed: 26% in rural
areas, 23% in urban areas. In total 19% of these female-headed households were run by 15-29 year-old
young women. This implied that, of all 15-29 year-old young women, about 58,000 or 3% ran a household
of their own (authors’ calculations based on CSO 2007c).
In the Zambian case, high death and birth rates compete. Concerning infant and child mortality, progress
has been painstakingly slow. Whereas in 1970 the infant mortality was estimated at 109 deaths per 1,000 live
births, with an estimated 101 deaths per 1,000 in 2008 the infant mortality rate continues to be high (UNDP
2008a, 2008b). The under 5 mortality rate (probability of dying between by age 5 per 1,000 live births) was
estimated at 170 per 1,000 life births in 2007. Though a slight fall compared to 178 in 2000 and 174 in 2005,
this is still high compared to the 163 per 1,000 ratio of 1990 and, moreover, one of the highest rates among
Southern African countries (UN MDG Indicators; WHO 2009). The health care system is inequitable in
terms of expenditure and access to services, and relies heavily on donor funding. Somewhat older figures
Page ● 34
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
underpin the wide inequalities in maternal and child care resulting from the current system. Among the poorest 20% of the population, in 2001-02 only 20% of the births was attended by skilled health personnel, while
among the top-20% in the income distribution this share was 91%. As for the education level of the mother,
the rates were respectively 17% for mothers with the lowest level and 78% for those with the highest level. The
various under 5 mortality rates again point at large inequalities. Among the poorest 20% of the population
this rate in 2007 was still 196, against among the highest 20% in the income distribution 92; in rural areas this
rate was 182, whereas it was 140 in urban areas, and as for the education level of the mother, the rates were
respectively 198 for mothers with the lowest level and 121 for those with the highest level (WHO 2009).
The total fertility rate (TFR, the number of births per woman) remains very high in international comparison. In 1970-75, the Zambian TFR reached the very high average of 7.4 (UNDP 2008b). After a fall in this
rate in the 1980s and 1990s, the 2000s have even witnessed an increase – rather unique in international perspective. Based on the 2007 Demographic and Health Survey, at the current fertility levels a Zambian woman
would bear on average 6.2 children in her lifetime, an increase from the average of 5.9 children reported for
2001-02. This increase is due to the rise in the fertility rate for women in rural areas, from 6.9 in 2001-02 to
the extremely high average of 7.5 children in 2007, while the fertility rate in urban areas remained at 4.3 (CSO
2007b). For an indication of the situation of our target group, the adolescent fertility rate (births per 1,000
women 15-19 of age) is of special importance. In 2005, this rate stood at 146 for Zambia – also quite high,
though somewhat lower than in Angola, Malawi and Mozambique (WHO 2009). In 2007, nearly one out of
five registrated first births took place when the mother was younger than 20 of age (authors’ calculation, based
on CSO 2009b).
Recently, notably Zambian males seem to delay marrying. In 2005, nearly three of four married males
surveyed were above the age of 29, as against less than half of all married women (48%) having past that
age (authors’ calculations based on CSO 2007c). Both the Labour Force and the Living Conditions Surveys
indicate that for girls early marriages are still quite common in Zambia.10 Customary marriages often take place
soon after a girl reaches puberty. According to the 2005 Labour Force Survey 19% of young women between
15 and 19 years of age were married, against only 2% of the young men of the same age. Of the women aged
20-24, 60% were married compared to 27% of their male counterparts, whereas the comparable figures for
those 25-29 of age were 83 and 68% respectively. These figures imply that in 2005 of all 1,765,000 women
aged 15-29, 709,000 or 40% were married (CSO 2007c).
10
Living together within being married (cohabiting) is not very common in Zambia: over 2006 it was only reported by 4% of
adults (CSO 2008a).
Page ● 35
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
In the 2006 Living Conditions Survey one third of all respondents reported to have been forced into
marriage. In these cases, females mainly reported pregnancy. The habit of a dowry (Lobola) is still widespread, though this does not go uncontested. In 2006, two out of five respondents thought that Lobola was
unreasonably high. A particular Zambian feature is that, even in 2007, both men and women throughout the
country indicated that men lived with two wives. However, in urban areas females indicated two wives while
males answered that they lived with one wife on average (CSO 2008). This outcome is a bit odd, as the 2003
Demographic and Health Survey already found that polygamy in Zambia with 16% affected a much lower
share of married women (OECD-SIGI website).
Because of the effects of HIV/AIDS, life expectancy at birth, by 1990 slightly over 53 years, is continuously decreasing, most likely till about 30 years (UN data, cited in Sanday 2009). With an average 41.2 years
in 2006, life expectancy at birth in Zambia was already low by African standards. It was by then 41.2 years
for females and 41.0 for males, bringing women to men parity at 100.6%. For 2005, the probability of not
surviving to age 40 was a comparatively high 54% (UNDP 2008a). Recently, life expectancy seems to have
decreased further indeed, to an expected 38.6 years in 2009: 38.7 for females and 38.5 for males (CIA World
Factbook). The adult life expectancy would increase by five years if it was projected without taking HIV and
AIDS into account: the CSO (cited in UNDP 2007, 17) estimated current adult life expectancy to be 52.5
years with HIV and 57.5 years without HIV.
2.6.2.
HIV/AIDS
Indeed, the demography and economy of Zambia is heavily influenced by the widespread incidence
of the HIV and AIDS pandemic. For 2007, it was estimated that the country’s HIV/AIDS prevalence rate
was 15.1% (15,087 per 100,000) of the adult population aged 15-49 (WHO 2009). By then, 1.1 million
Zambians were living with HIV. By 2007, about 56,000 people had died in Zambia because of HIV/AIDS
(UN MDG Indicators). HIV prevalence is especially high in cities and towns along main transport routes,
compared to more secluded rural areas (UNAIDS / WHO 2007). In urban areas it is nearly twice as high
as in rural areas. As for age groups, in women it is highest among those aged 30-34 and 35-39 years, with
respectively 26.0% and 24.9%, and in men among the 35-39- and 40-44 year-olds, with 22.4% and 24.1%
(CSO 2009c). Although the macro-economic consequences of the pandemic are difficult to assess, it can
be argued that the country is confronted with a loss of educated and trained people in the most productive
years of their lives. HIV and AIDS are undermining people’s ability to make choices of life that one highly
values and to live a decent life (UNDP 2007). The sectors most vulnerable for AIDS are in Zambia first and
Page ● 36
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
foremost the health and education sectors, but agriculture, mining, transport, and the water and sanitation
sector may be hit heavily as well (UNDP 2007; Ministry of Health study, cited in Sanday 2009). It has been
simulated that in 10 years’ time the average income in Zambia has fallen by 10% because of HIV/AIDS,
that the incidence of those living under the USD 2 per day poverty line increased by 3%, and that the Gini
coefficient for income inequality is 5.5%points higher than it would be without the pandemic (Salinas and
Haacker 2006, 12).
Yet, there are signs of hope. As part of the 2007 Demographic and Health Survey, women and men
aged 15-59 were tested to determine their HIV status. The results revealed that HIV prevalence had declined
from 15.6% in 2001-02 to 14.3%, and relatively even more so in the urban areas, from 23.1% to 19.7%
(CSO 2009a, 21; Sanday 2009). Already between 1994-2004, HIV prevalence declined among 20-24-year old
pregnant women in urban areas (from 30 to 24%) and their 15-19-year-old peers (from 20 to 14%). More
generally, surveys reported a steep decline of HIV prevalence in young people (15-24 years). Among young
rural residents surveyed in 1995 and 2003, prevalence fell from 16% to 6.4% in women and from 5.6% to
3.1% in men, while among their urban peers it decreased from 23 to 12% in women and from 7.5 to 3.2%
in men. Yet, these figures indicate that women aged 15-24 are two to four times more likely than men in the
same age bracket to get infected by HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS / WHO 2008, 8).
Various research results confirm that many in the younger generation are adopting behaviours that can
protect them against HIV infections. For example, the proportion of young urban women aged 15-24 who
said they used a condom the last time they had sex with a non-regular partner almost doubled between 1995
and 2003, from 46 to 82%, while the share of young urban men reporting more than two non-regular partners in the previous year declined from 52 to 39% (UNDP 2007). In 2007, condom use at the last high-risk
sex for 15-24 years’ old women reached a record 38%, as it did with 47% among the men of the same age
cohort (UN MDG Indicators). It appears that a fear of AIDS-related mortality, combined with prevention
programmes, has prompted changes in behaviour. Besides increased condom use, Voluntary Counselling
and Testing (VCT) is growing, more women are seeking prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and
Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) programmes are broadening (UNDP 2007; UN MDG Indicators). In 2005,
the government had taken the far-reaching decision to provide ART services free of charge, to a large extent
enabled by international donors. Progress, though more marginally, has also been booked in the struggle
against malaria, in Zambia accounting for by far the largest proportion of morbidity and the no. 1 cause of
visitation to public health services. As with HIV/AIDS, partnerships with global programs play a major role
Page ● 37
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
here (Cheelo and Zulu 2007, 7-9).
However, these positive changes should be set against other challenges. The vast majority of Zambians
still lacks access to HIV treatment. Ignorance is still widespread. For example, about 40% of health workers
surveyed at five Zambian hospitals did not believe that condoms were effective in preventing HIV. Stigma
also remains a concern. In a survey of five Zambian districts, two-thirds of married women who were starting antiretroviral therapy said they had not disclosed their HIV status to their husbands for fear of blame or
abandonment (UNAIDS / WHO 2008, 8-9).
Zambia has put strenghtening the household at the centre of the national HIV and AIDS response.
However, it cannot be denied that the spread of HIV/AIDS is partly driven by domestic violence, which is
closely related to the poor empowerment and low economic status of women (AfDB/OECD 2008, 629).
Moreover, “The impacts of HIV and AIDS at household level are not gender neutral as it is women that
often have to bear a bigger burden, such as caring for the sick and the rising number of orphans” (UNDP
2007, 8). The estimated number of orphans due to HIV/AIDS in Zambia in 2005 was already 850,000, over
two thirds of the nearly 1.2 million orphans that year (UNDP 2007). The 2007 Zambia Demographic and
Health Survey results showed that nearly one out of five (19.2%) children aged below 18 years were orphans
and vulnerable children.11 The incidence of orphans and vulnerable children was higher in urban (26.5%)
than in rural areas (15.6%) (CSO 2009d).
2.6.3.
Women’s labour market share
From 2000-2008, the male population of Zambia grew by 19.6%, the female population by 18.2%. A
very large part of the population is 0-14 years: in 2008 45.4%, 45.7% of the male population and 45.0% of
the female part. On the other hand, a very small part of the population was 65 of age and older: 3.0% of
the total population, only 2.5% of the males and 3.4% of the females (ILO-Laborsta, EAPEP calculations,
and authors’ calculations based on this source).
Of the total population, in the ILO statistics by 2008 4,662,000 persons were counted as economically active, of which 224,000 in the age of 65 and older. If we leave out this last group in order to comply
with the internationally comparable Labour Participation Rate (LPR) or Employment-to-Population ratio
(EPOP) that only takes stock of the 15-64 of age, we can calculate the over-all LPR or EPOP at 70.8%
(MDG indicator 1.5). This implies a middle position among the 14 countries in our project. With 60.5% in
11
Vulnerable children were defined as children living in a household where there was an adult with a chronic illness or an occurrence of the death of an adult 12 months preceding the survey.
Page ● 38
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
2008, the overall female LPR or EPOP in Zambia is a quarter lower than the male figure (80.2%). Except
for the 15-19-year old females (43.7%) and the 20-24-year-olds (58.3%), women in all five years’ age cohorts
had a labour participation rate between 60 and 80%. By 2008, the LPR of women aged 25-29 was 64.5%. We
could calculate that the 2008 LPR for 15-29 year old females was 54.3%: by then, 968,000 women of total
1,782,000 in this age group were economically active. Among their male counterparts of the same age, this
rate was, with 74.8%, much higher. All male five years’ cohorts had LPR’s consistently higher than those of
females of the same cohort, till rates over 95% for the 35-44 and 50-54 aged. From 1999 on, shifts in the
EPOP’s (LPR’s) for the respective 5-years’ groups have been without a definite trend and small: maximum
3%points. The exception was the LPR for the youngest female group, the 15-19 of age, that increased by
nearly 4%points between 1999-2008 (ILO-Laborsta, and authors’ calculations based on this source).
Table 4 Female employment shares by sector, Zambia, 2005
agriculture, fishing, forestry
x
1,000
%
1,509
50.6
4
7.1
51
32.7
3
17.6
mining
manufacturing
electricity, gas, water supply
construction
trade, wholesale, retail
4
7.1
178
44.5
16
48.8
9
10.2
restaurants, hotels
transport, storage, communication
finance, insurance, real estate
community, social, personal services
Total
7
17.1
137
47.6
1,918
46.4
Source: authors’ calculations based on CSO 2007c
Table 4 shows that in 2005 across industries women’s employment share was highest in agriculture (just
over 50%). In all other industries women made up minorities, though their shares were substantial in restaurants and hotels (49%), community, social and personal services (48%), and commerce (nearly 45%). With
33%, their share in manufacturing is also considerable, but their share in commercial services (finance, insurance, real estate, 17%) is even for sub-Saharan standards low. Table 5 clarifies the dominance of agriculture
in female employment. Jointly the tables 3, 4 and 5 illustrate that the share of Zambian women working in
“modern” wage employment for the time being remains small.
Page ● 39
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
Table 5 Shares of industries in female employment, Zambia, 2005
%
agriculture
78.6
mining
0.2
manufacturing
2.7
electricity, gas, water supply
0.2
construction
0.2
trade, wholesale, retail
9.2
restaurants, hotels
0.8
transport, storage, communication
0.5
finance, insurance, real estate
0.4
community, social, personal services
7.1
Total
100.0
Source: authors’ calculations based on CSO 2007c
Below, we shortly describe developments in large sectors with special attention to the position of women.
2.6.4.
Agriculture
Table 3 already showed that in 2005 over 70% of the Zambian population still survived in agriculture,
including forestry and fishing: 78% of all women and 67% of all men. Less than 1% (0.8%) of the agricultural labour force was high-skilled, whereas 71% was unskilled. According to the official figures (leaving out
child labour) just over half of this labour force was younger than 30 of age, with a remarkable share (nearly
20%) in the 15-19 year-olds’ category. By contrast, 6% of those engaged in agriculture were 65 of age and
older, a much higher share than in all other sectors (CSO 2007c).
Agriculture has a trimodal structure of large commercial farms, small-scale commercial farmers, and
a large peasant sector. Smallholders work around two-thirds of cultivated land, though the large farms account for over 70% of agricultural exports (Carmody 2009). According to the labour force data, employment in the first two types of firms remains limited to about 2% of the total agricultural labour force. In the
1990s, liberalisation led to the liquidation of state-supported lending institutions, which in turn resulted in
failures of agricultural marketing and finance institutions. It goes without saying that this adversely affected
agricultural smallholders who depended on these institutions (Fashoyin 2002). In the 2000s, the agricultural
sector hardly or not recovered. Though the PRSP government plans had clearly identified agriculture as a
priority sector, public investment remained low, as did private investment. By the mid-2000s, only 14% of
arable land was cultivated and 13% of the potential for irrigation was developed for irrigation (UN 2005).
The perspectives for agricultural growth are rather bleak.
Page ● 40
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
The large majority of women active in farming does so in subsistence farming (UNDP 2008b). However, also as far as agriculture is related to market activities, it is the most female-intensive sector; this especially is so for food and livestock, in which 70% of the total amount of the working time invested is female,
and horticulture and groundnuts (60%). Yet, exactly these are the least skill-intensive sectors in the Zambian
economy at large (Fontana 2004, 57). Thus, it is quite unlikely that young women living in urban areas and
trying to make a career can rely on a “fall-back scenario” in which they can go back to their families living
from agriculture.
2.6.5.
Mining and manufacturing
The main manufacturing activities in Zambia are copper mining and processing, construction, and
the production of foodstuffs, beverages, chemicals, textiles, and fertilizer (CIA World Factbook). Copper
mining still accounts for 80-90% of export revenues, though its contribution to GDP since 1994 has been
halved to about 8% (CSO 2009a). After a sharp fall, mining employment seems to stabilize around 56,000
workers employed in 2005, of which a remarkable 17,000 (31%) in informal labour. Mining continues to
offer employment for high-skilled labour, with 22% of its labour force having attained tertiary education, as
against only 7% in manufacturing. In 2005 the mining workforce was relatively old, with only 28% under the
age of 30. By contrast, 43% of the manufacturing workforce was younger than 30 of age (CSO 2007c).
As said, mining flourished again in the 2000s, and gave an impetus to the related manufacturing of basic equipment and construction materials as well as to the assembly of motor vehicles, bicycles and radios.
About 80% of employment in this metal and engineering cluster can be found in the Copperbelt and in
Lusaka (Koyi 2006a). Currently private ownership dominates. Chinese investors say to plan massive investments in a “high-tech” economic zone, building on the actual cluster and manufacturing TV sets, mobile
phones and other electronic items (Carmody 2009). This may enlarge job opportunities for young females,
be it that this may not exactly be “decent work”: the Chinese seem to export poor labour standards. Zambian and international unions have objected the dangerous working conditions, low wages and appaling
terms of employment in Chinese-owned mines (ITUC 2009a; also: ALRN 2009).
In 2005, 51,000 or 3% of all economically active women were engaged in manufacturing – 31% of
all those working in manufacturing. Yet, among those in “production and related” occupations, less than
a quarter (24%) were women, implying that 12-14,000 women were working in manufacturing in nonproduction jobs (authors’ calculations on CSO 2007c). It is relevant to note for the position of women that
the abrupt trade liberalisation of the 1990s has been disastrous for indigeneous manufacturing industries
Page ● 41
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
such as textiles and clothing, and thus notably for females, above average represented in these industries. As
far as domestic companies survived, they brought down labour costs especially through the casualisation
of labour (Bodibe 2006). The competitive position of domestic-owned, small-scale manufacturing remains
very weak. The scant success stories seem to relate to agriculture-based activities, like in juice and fruit processing, and to construction (Carmody 2009, 1202-3).
2.6.6.
Commerce
Currently, services in their broad sense accounts for two-thirds of Zambia’s GDP, up from less than
50% in the 1980s (Koyi 2006a). In the 2000s, commerce and commercial services grew considerably as
sources for female employment. In 2005, 178,000 or 9% of all economically active females worked in commerce (trade, wholesale and retail distribution). A very large majority of them (97%) did so in informal
labour; only about 6,000 women were in formal wage employment (Table 3). Another large majority of
women, 146,000, worked in commerce in urban areas, as against 32,000 in rural areas (CSO 2007c). In
terms of headcounts of commerce staff, women in 2005 accounted for 45%, though in terms of working
time, commerce is a female-intensive sector; it has been calculated that the female share of total time use
was 51% (Fontana 2004, 57). In 2005 the commerce workforce included less than 5% high-skilled and 36%
unskilled, whereas the sales occupations –about half of all commerce jobs-- comprised only 2% high-skilled
and a slightly higher share of unskilled (37%). Surprisingly, women only made up a minority (42%) of all
occupied in sales, implying that they account for 47% of the remaining, mostly higher qualified commerce
staff: managers, clerks, and technical staff. Among the latter were about 16,000 high-skilled. And, again surprisingly, it can be calculated that about half of these high-skilled were female (authors’ calculations based
on CSO 2007c). This representation may be related to the fact that, diverging from many other countries, in
Zambia commerce staff at large is not very young: in 2005 46% was younger than 30 of age; nor was sales
staff, with 51% under age 30 (CSO 2007c). It may well be that the female part of commerce employees
shows about the same age division. That may imply that in 2005 about 67,000 girls and young women aged
15-29 worked in commerce in urban areas. Most likely only about 3,000 did so in formal employment.
Recently, concerns are widespread about the growing penetration of Chinese traders, and about the
related cheap imports of notably clothing (Carmody 2009, 1200). This might seriously hamper the position
of small-scale women traders. In food retail, South African supermarket chains have made inroads in the
Zambian markets, catering for higher income consumers. Local small-scale food producers have quite some
Page ● 42
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
problems meeting the supermarket standards. For the time being, the supermarkets provide only a quite
limited source of employment for women (SIDA 2008).
2.6.7.
Services
Besides commerce, commercial services include restaurants and hotels; transport, storage and communication; finance, insurance, real estate, as well as the non-governmental (or privatised) part of community,
social and personal services. Based on the Labour Force Survey 2005, it can be calculated that in that year
employment in commercial services defined like this covered 296,000 persons, of which about 141,000 or
48% were women. A majority of them worked in the informal economy: only 44,000 of these females, nearly one third, could be found in formal employment. Another substantial majority of these women, nearly
two thirds (65%) or 92,000, worked in urban areas (CSO 2007c). If the age division of female labour force
in commercial services equals the general age division, then in 2005 42% of them was younger than 30 of
age. That may imply that in 2005 about 39,000 girls and young women aged 15-29 worked in commerce in
urban areas. Most likely only one third or about 13,000 did so in formal employment.
Tourism, including restaurants, hotels, travel agencies and related services, in 2005 provided employment for about 15,000 women. In the National Employment and Labour Market Policy (NELMP), the
government has identified the tourism sub-sector a having a large potential for job creation in Zambia.
Between 2000-2007 tourist arrivals at the national borders nearly doubled, be it to a still modest 897,000 in
2007 (UN Data website). The authorities hope that perspectives are fuelled by the 2010 FIFA World Cup
tournament in South Africa – certainly if the negative effects of the demise of Zambia Airways (privatised,
but grounded in early 2009) can be overcome. Actually, a number of hotel chains is expanding or building
new facilities (though the construction demands of South Africa have led to capacity constraints – AfDB/
OECD 2008). Call centres constitute another sub-sector which has been mentioned in government documents as potentially expansive, especially for its potential to host offshoring facilities of UK firms. Yet,
the development of international call centres does not seem to take off. Up till now, competition of South
Africa in this field seems too strong (various websites).
2.6.8.
Government
As indicated in Table 2, in 2005 the Zambian government employed 134,000 persons, of which 128,000
at central level. From the calculations used for section 2.6.7 above, it follows that a minority of about 25%
of the public servants, or about 33,000, was female. Like in neighbouring countries, government seems a
Page ● 43
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
stronghold of male employment. In Zambia, wages in the strongly regulated public sector were traditionally
higher than in the private sector. In the 1990s, this difference grew especially among the low-skilled. For the
highest levels of education, by contrast, the existing public sector wage premium decreased to become negative. For the high-skilled private employment seem to have become just as lucrative (Nielsen and Rosholm
2001), which for 2005 seems to be confirmed by our Table 8. Yet, wages as such do not fully mirror how
higher government officials fared. For example, many have been able to buy their formerly governmentowned houses and turn them into small businesses, lodges, or offices, and find somewhere else to live
(Carmody 2009, 1202). As a result of the privatisation processes in the 1990s, the core of a new Zambian
(upper-)middle class seems to be found just here.
2.7. Education and skill levels of the female labour force
2.7.1.
Literacy
The adult literacy rate –those age 15 and over that can read and write—for Zambia in 1995-200512 was,
according to the UNDP Human Development Indicators, 68%: reasonably high for sub-Saharan Africa.
We have to emphasize that this overall figure is hiding a large gender gap, which has its negative effects for
example on the higher poverty rate among female-headed households. In 1995-2005 the male literacy rate
was 76.3%, against only 59.8% for women, thus the women to men parity was only 78% (UNDP 2008a, b).13
The youth (15-24-year-olds) literacy rate for 1995-2005 was with 69.5% slightly higher, divided in 72.7% for
males and 66.2% for females, implying a women to men parity ratio of 91% (UNDP 2008a). The most recently available figures indicate a further increase of literacy rates, but mainly for men and hardly for women. In 2007, the literacy rate for men was estimated at 81.6% (5.3%points up compared to the 1995-2005
average) and the female rate at 60.6% (only 0.8%points up), bringing the women to men parity ratio down to
74%. The same happened among the youth. In 2007, the literacy rate for 15-24 year-olds was 75.1%: 82.4%
for men (9.7%points up compared to the 1995-2005 average) and 67.8% for women (just 1.6%points up),
resulting in 85% women to men parity (MDG Indicator 2.3, derived from UN MDG Indicators and based on
UNESCO data). The latter parity ratio has been declining since 1990, when it was 97%.
12
13
The 2006 figure indicated by UNDP for Zambia is the 1995-2005 average.
The CIA World Factbook gives 80.6% literacy for Zambia, 86.8% for males and 74.8% for females (2003 estimates), implying
a higher (84%) women to men parity rate.
Page ● 44
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
According to the 2005 Labour Force Survey (LFS), 71% of the labour force was literate, a somewhat
lower share than found in the sources cited above. With 93% the literacy rate was, as could be expected,
highest among the paid employees. 73% of the self-employed qualified as literate, and only 62% of the unpaid family workers (authors’ calculations based on CSO 2007c). Unfortunately, the LFS does not include
a gender division of literacy levels.
2.7.2.
Education of girls and young women
Since independence, the successive Zambian governments have aimed to achieve universal primary education, and considerable progress towards this goal has been made. Admittedly, with the economy deteriorating between 1980-2000, relative government spending on education fell, translating into a lower a lower
quality of education, like poorly trained teachers and overcrowded classrooms (Burger et al 2004). Between
2000 and 2004-‘05, education expenditure grew from 7 to 11% of total government expenditure, but this
share was still the lowest of all Southern African countries (IMF 2008a). Nevertheless, recent state support
for reaching the MDG2 and MDG3 targets concerning education14 has been strong, and universal primary
education does not seem far away (Cheelo and Zulu 2007). It has to noted that “primary education” as a rule
means covering grades (years) 1 to 7. Though in the 1980 a number of basic schools have been set up adding
grades 8 and 9 in an effort to compensate for the shortage of secondary schools, a constraint remains that
after year 7 tuition fees must be paid (Leinonen 2000; wikipedia).
Combined gross enrollment in Zambian education was in 2006 overall 63.3%: females 60.7%, males
66.0%. The overall figure was comparatively not that low: in the 2006 HDI ranking, at this point Zambia
left 40 countries behind. Though women to men parity remained a mere 92%, combined with female enrollment figures this implies a rather high level of participation in education, also compared to the neighbouring
countries (UNDP 2008a). The net enrollment in primary education (grade 1-7) was in 2007 overall 95.4%,
divided into 94.9% for boys and even 95.9% for girls, bringing girls to boys parity to 101% (MDG Indicator
2.3 and MDG Indicator 3.1, derived from UN MDG Indicators). These rates point at considerable improve-
ment in the 2000s, with about 25%points for boys, and even 28%points for girls. Yet, the number of dropouts from primary school is still considerable. Though the share of pupils in grade 1 reaching grade 5 was in
2004 94%, the proportion of children starting grade 1 who reach the last grade of primary school was, with
75% in 2006, much lower (UN MDG website). The primary completion rate as calculated by the UNESCO
14
‘Ensure that by 2015 children, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling’ (Target 3) and
‘Eliminate gender disparity in secondary education, preferably by 2005 and in all levels of education no later than 2015’ (Target
4).
Page ● 45
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
clarifies that a large majority of the early school-leavers are girls. The last available primary completion rate
(2007) was an overall 88.1%, but 93.5% for boys and only 82.6% for girls – a women to men parity rate of
88% (UN MDG Indicators). Older figures prove that this mainly relates to girls in rural areas. Most likely
distance to school and family pressure on household chores play major roles for them dropping out (cf.
Nielsen and Rosholm 2001; Burger et al 2004).
The net enrollment rate in secondary education was 26% in 2005, with girls lagging somewhat more behind: their rate of 23.5% for girls against 28.4% for boys brings women to men parity here to 82% (UNDP
2008b). The most recent statistics show a remarkable rise of this rate to 89% (UN MDG Indicators). Yet,
these figures prove that only a third of primary school leavers progress to secondary school, a share that
obviously has not improved since the late 1990s (Burger et al 2004, 10). And though enrollment in secondary education is not low compared to for example Mozambique, in Zambian practice secondary education,
notably for girls, seems to suffer from the focus on universal primary education. Under these conditions, the
serious constraints for poor girls on access to secondary education, like distance to school and the payment
of tuition fees, persist.
In 1996, the government initiated a Technical Educational, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training
(TEVET) policy. According to a survey as of 2004, training was provided to nearly 33,000 students. Strikingly, women outnumbered men in all categories, including business and law and Information Technology,
except engineering construction, agriculture and horticulture. Though many of the about 270 vocational
training institutions struggle to maintain quality with low fees, TEVET seems rather successful. A tracking
study in 2004 showed that most graduates found a job after six months. This may be a mere indication of
the major shortage of technical skills in Zambia. In contrast, graduates of business studies, such as accounting, are starting to have difficulty in finding jobs (AfDB/OECD 2008, 626-8).
In regular tertiary education women are lagging behind seriously, with in 2005 over twice as many male
third-level students and a women to men parity rate of only about 46% (UN Data website). Unfortunately,
we did not find recent indications of Zambia’s overall enrollment rate in tertiary education. It should be
taken into account that large (mining) companies provide in-house training and scholarships for tertiary
education in subjects with acute shortages, such as engineering and geology (AfDB/OECD 2008, 628).
2.7.3.
Female skill levels
Table 6 (next page) shows the composition of the economically active by educational attainment, based
on the 2005 Labour Force Survey (LFS). We left out the considerable number of “not stated” (761,000, of
Page ● 46
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
which 512,000 women). It turns out that nearly 64% of the economically active Zambian women were unskilled, nearly 33% had at least completed lower secondary education, and 3.6% had a university degree or
completed A-level education.15 The gaps with the higher levels of education of the male labour force were
considerable. At medium (skilled) level women to men parity was 71%, while surprisingly at high-skill level
the gap with a 78% parity was somewhat smaller.
Table 6 Economically active population by highest level of education completed, by gender, Zambia, 2005
(x 1,000 headcount)
all
women
men
x 1,000
%
x 1,000
unskilled
2,310
55.5
1,159
63.6
1,151
49.3
skilled
1,675
40.3
597
32.8
1,078
46.1
173
4.2
66
3.6
107
4.6
100.0
2,336
100.0
highly skilled
Total
4,158
100.0
1,822
Sources: authors’ calculation, based on CSO 2007c, Table 5.5.
Key:
unsk illed =
no or primary education (grade 1-7)
sk illed =
completed at least lower secondary education (grade 8-12)
highly sk illed = degree or completed A -level education
%
x1,000
%
As for industries, finance, insurance and real estate in 2005 showed the highest educational level, with
24% of their labour force having attained tertiary education and only 10% unskilled. Electricity, gas and
water (22% high-skilled and 9% unskilled) ranked second, closely followed by mining (22% and 16% respectively) as well as community, social and personal services (22% high-skilled, 20% unskilled). Hotels and
restaurants also had a relatively well-skilled labour force, with 13% having attained tertiary education and
18% unskilled; by contrast, the trade, wholesale and retail workforce included less than 5% high-skilled, and
36% unskilled. It is a pity that the LFS 2005 does not include a division of educational levels by industry and
by gender. However, it can be calculated that, if the division of high-skilled women across industries would
have equalled the general division, the outcome would have been only 60,000 instead of 66,000 high-skilled
females (authors’ calculations based on CSO 2007c). Thus, taking the gender division of the labour force
across industries as given, the female share of high-skilled was somewhat higher than the male share, on
average in Zambia and at least in one or more industries.
15
Note that these levels indicate the educational/skill levels of the economically active, not the skills demanded in the workplace.
We did not find Zambian statistics concerning the latter.
Page ● 47
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
Table 7 Employment by occupational group, gender, and highest level of education completed, Zambia,
2005
total
women
share of total
x 1,000
x 1,000
share
highskilled
skilled
unskilled
Administrative, managerial
114
47
41.3
40
56
4
Professional, technical and related
101
29
29.2
34
59
7
Clerical and related
313
157
50.3
4
60
36
Sales
199
83
41.7
2
61
37
Production and related
Agricultural, forestry, fishing
Not stated
Total
373
86
23.1
10
66
24
3,025
1,516
50.2
1
28
71
6
-
-
-
-
-
4,131
1,918
2,214
4
40
56
Source: authors’ calculations based on CSO 2007c
Table 7 shows the female shares in occupational groups, as well as the division of these groups by attained level of education. Unfortunately, also this division of educational levels cannot be split up by gender.
Besides, as Table 3 already indicated, having a small majority in agricultural, forestry and fishing occupations,
women also made up such a majority in clerical and related occupations, while making up for 41-42% of
the groups “administrative and managerial” and “sales”. Not surprisingly, “administrative and managerial”
in 2005 showed the highest educational level, with 40% having attained tertiary level and only 4% remaining unskilled, whereas “professional, technical and related” ranked second, with 34% highly skilled and 7%
unskilled. ”Clerical and related” comprised 4% high-skilled and 36% unskilled, while “sales” included 2%
high-skilled and 37% unskilled.
Based on the earlier sections 2.6.6 and 2.6.7, we can make a rather accurate estimate of the size of our
target group, the girls and young women aged 15-29, working in urban areas in commercial services (that is,
commerce as well as commercial services more narrowly defined, like finance, tourism and other business
services). We calculated that under this definition in 2005 106,000 girls and young women were covered.
A relatively small part of them, 15% or 16,000, was engaged in formal employment. About 18,000 of the
target group might have attained tertiary level (17%), and another 74,000 (70%) might be skilled. The total
target group may have increased to 120,000 in 2009, among which about 20,000 in formal employment. Another 40,000 to 50,000 (depending on the economic conditions) will enter into commerce and commercial
services employment in the next five years.
Page ● 48
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
2.8. Wages and working conditions of the target group
2.8.1.
Wages
Whereas in the Zambian formal economy wages for unionised staff are set by collective bargaining,
with the possibility of extension to non-unionised workers, salaries for non-unionised staff mostly regard
management and are set on an individual basis by top management. Allowances added to collectively bargained wages include contributions to the costs of housing (based on the Employment Act), transport to
and from work, and children’s medication and education. Non-cash benefits may include subsidized meals
in staff canteens and sports and recreation facilities (various websites; information from local experts).
Table 8 (next page) shows the average monthly earnings based on the Labour Force Survey (LFS) held
in November/December 2005, by industry and a number of other criteria, as well as for all by gender. The
figures show a structural picture, that most unlikely has changed much since. The last column presents the
share of those in the respective rows earning less than Kwacha 250,000 in November/December 2005. This
information is the more interesting as, taking into account inflation in the half year in between, this amount
corresponds nearly exactly to the Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW) rate set in May 2006 at Kwacha 268,000,
be it that this amount is related to a 48 hours’ working week. Thus, this column gives a fairly good account
of the shares of those that earned less than the SMW. As already noted in section 2.5.1, in treating the SMW,
the table displays the huge variation in earnings in Zambia. It indicates widespread earnings inequalities. For
example, even if we exclude the agricultural sector and agricultural occupations, where earnings in kind,
lodging etcetera play major roles, the average earnings in the industry with the highest earnings, finance etc.,
were over 4.4 times as high as those in the industry with the lowest earning level, restaurants and hotels; the
average earnings in administrative and managerial occupations were 5.7 times those in clerical and related
occupations. The average earnings in parastatal companies had really mounted, being 5.2 times those in private companies; average earnings in central government were 2.4 times those in local government.
Page ● 49
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
Table 8 Average monthly earnings by industry, occupational group, employment status, sector, lengthy
of the working week and gender, Zambia, 2005 (x 1,000 Kwacha, and shares of earnings below
Kwacha 250,000 per month)
Average monthly earnings
total
Agriculture, fishing etc.
women
men
Share
< K 250
94
63
116
92%
Mining
986
477
1,012
6%
Manufacturing
388
209
461
48%
1,007
514
1,096
15%
Construction
463
732
443
42%
Trade, wholesale, retail
292
203
364
77%
Restaurants, hotels
274
269
279
50%
Transport, storage, communication
560
472
568
27%
Electricity, gas, water supply
Finance, insurance, real estate
1,219
1,158
1,233
28%
Community, social, personal serv.
820
733
897
35%
Total
294
196
355
74%
1,564
1,461
1,635
10%
Administrat., managerial
occup.
group
area
empl.
status
Professional, technical etc.
992
738
1,091
16%
Clerical and related
276
184
367
71%
Sales
256
212
284
62%
Production and related
562
364
617
38%
Agricultural, forest., fishing
105
65
133
92%
urban areas
541
406
619
?
rural areas
128
67
168
?
self-employed
160
104
196
87%
employer
323
131
473
67%
paid employee
694
629
719
35%
47
42
56
96%
other status
128
197
92
81%
central government
946
755
1,057
45%
unpaid family worker
sector
Work.
week
local government
387
252
469
42%
1,969
?
?
17%
private companies
377
220
450
44%
Less than 20 hours
181
100*)
250*)
81%
20-39 hours
167
166*)
167*)
79%
40-59 hours
459
276*)
554*)
53%
261*)
510*)
55%
parastatal companies
60 hours and more
431
Source: CSO 2007c
*) A ssuming the same division of respondents across hours lik e in total
The earnings levels that are relevant for the DECISIONS FOR LIFE target group also vary widely. The
expected outcome as for industries indeed is that working in finance is, from a financial standpoint, most
desirable, followed by working in community, social and personal services. For the latter two industries, we
were able to divide between earnings in formal and informal employment, and then the differences between
women in formal employment in both industries turn up to be even smaller: average K 1,256,000 in comPage ● 50
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
munity, social and personal services against average K 1,398,000 in finance etc. By contrast, with an average
K 394,000, the gap with earnings of women in formal employment in restaurants and hotels is quite wide.16
As the figures for sales occupations jointly with the large share under the SMW in trade, wholesale and retail
suggest, average female earnings in formal employment in this industry may be even lower than in restaurants and hotels. Roughly spoken, average earnings of women in the formal sector employed in finance and
in community and other services are four times those of their female colleagues in formal employment in
trade etc. and in restaurants and hotels. Transport, storage and communication has a middle position.
Researchers have concluded that education for Zambia is the most important determinant of wages,
among men and women as well as between them. In the 1990s, an international survey revealed the gender
wage gap in the country’s formal sector to be modest: women earned on average 19-20% less than men.
The effect of education on this gap was relatively strong (Fafchamps et al 2009). For 1995, it has been estimated that the average hourly wages of women with medium and high education in Zambia were 95%
of the wages of their male counterparts, whereas the hourly average wages of low-educated women were
only 59% of those of low-educated men, thus for the latter pointing at a gender pay gap17 of 41% (Fontana 2004, 56). But education is not the only relevant factor; outright discrimination of women is another
one. In the 1990s about one-third of the gender wage gap could be attributed by discrimination. That was
most experienced by full-time working females that had only completed primary school or junior secondary
school (Nielsen 2000).
Enabled by data from Table 10, in the next section showing average working weeks, Table 9 (next page)
presents average hourly wages along the same criteria as Table 8. The last column shows the gender pay gap.
With 45%, Zambia’s overall pay gap is quite large, reflecting –as ITUC and ILO stipulated-- the disadvantageous position of women in employment, education and other fields of life. As for employment status, the
gender pay gap with 13% is comparatively small for paid employees; unless all differences between males
and females, this category is rather homogenous, compared to the self-employed (47% pay gap) and the employer categories (72% gap). In these two categories, larger shares of women compared to men are working
16
17
The LFS 2005 did not present data on formal sector earnings by industry, only on informal sector earnings. Moreover, the
labour force division across formal/informal already met many difficulties. On this basis, we could only calculate formal earnings for men and women in these three industries. The outcomes were (x 1,000 K):
restaurants, hotels: formal tot. 389, women 394, men 385 (gender pay gap: -2%); informal tot. 174, women 121, men 221
(gender pay gap: 36%);
finance etc.: formal tot. 1,535, women 1,398, men 1,578 (gender pay gap: 11%); informal tot. 815, women 542, men 845 (gender pay gap: 36%);
community a.o. services: formal tot. 1,158, women 1,256, men 952 (gender pay gap: -32%); informal tot. 405, women 153, men
795 (gender pay gap: 81%).
We used the international standard formula for the gender pay (or wage) gap: ((wage men – wage women) : wage men)
x100).
Page ● 51
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
in the informal sector, most likely also more in small-scale businesses.
As for industries, in four of five industries that are relevant for our target group the gender pay gap is
not that large: it varies from 4% (restaurants, hotels) to 18% (community and other services). With 44%,
the gap in trade, wholesale and retail is much larger, though with 26% in the sales occupations more limited.
Within community and other services, the gender pay gap obviously is rather small in the commercial part,
as in the public service this gap, with 29% (central government) and 46% (local government) respectively, is
much wider than the average in this large industry. In manufacturing, the very large gender pay gap (55%)
may be partly due to the so-called sub-sectoral sorting: men are working predominantly in better paying
industries, like metal, steel and engineering, and women in low-paying industries, like in textiles, clothing
and leather manufacturing. Partly outright discrimination may be at hand, like in cases where women are
denied access to certain better-paid jobs. The ILO L abour Statistics seem to confirm both options. This
source mentioned for 2006 wages in the Zambian basic iron and steel manufacturing wages in the range of
Kwacha 750-1,214,000 per month, whereas for example in footwear wages varied between K 513-680,000
monthly.18
18
Moreover, for a number of manufacturing and transport jobs wages were only mentioned for males, like in iron and steel
(which may have to do with working in night shifts and protecting women for health risks), but also in construction (building
electrician, plumber, painter, bricklayer) and in transport (railway passenger train guard, railway engine-driver), where such
arguments are unlikely to hold.
Page ● 52
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
Table 9 Average hourly earnings by industry, occupational group, employment status, sector, lengthy of the
working week and gender, Zambia, 2005 (in Kwacha, rounded at K 20)
total
Agriculture, fishing etc.
women
men
m/w gap
540
360
680
47%
Mining
5,700
2,760
5,840
53%
Manufacturing
2,240
1,200
2,660
55%
Electricity, gas, water supply
5,820
2,980
6,340
53%
Construction
2,680
4,220
2,560
39%
Trade, wholesale, retail
1,680
1,180
2,100
44%
Restaurants, hotels
1,580
1,560
1,620
4%
Transport, storage, communication
3,240
2,720
3,280
17%
Finance, insurance, real estate
7,040
6,680
7,120
6%
Community, social, personal serv.
4,740
4,240
5,180
18%
Total
1,700
1,140
2,060
45%
Administrat., managerial
9,040
8,440
9,440
11%
Professional, technical etc.
5,720
4,260
6,300
33%
Clerical and related
1,600
1,060
2,120
50%
Sales
1,480
1,220
1,640
26%
Production and related
3,240
2,100
3,560
41%
600
380
760
50%
occup.
group
Agricultural, forest., fishing
area
empl.
status
sector
Work.
week
urban areas
3,120
2,340
3,580
35%
rural areas
740
380
960
60%
self-employed
920
600
1,140
47%
employer
1,860
760
2,740
72%
paid employee
4,000
3,640
4,160
13%
unpaid family worker
280
240
320
25%
other status
740
1,140
520
-100%
central government
5,460
4,360
6,100
29%
local government
2,240
1,460
2,700
46%
parastatal companies
11,360
?
?
?
private companies
2,180
1,280
2,600
51%
Less than 20 hours
4,680
2,620*)
6,480*)
60%
20-39 hours
1,200
1,080*)
1,200*)
10%
40-59 hours
2,080
1,280*)
2,560*)
50%
60 hours and more
1,420
855*)
1,680*)
49%
Source: CSO 2007c
*) A ssuming the same division of respondents across hours lik e in total
The outcomes across occupational groups confirm largely that the gender pay gap is smallest for women
with medium and high education, though here the gaps seem larger than the research we cited earlier indicated for the 1990s. As for the administrative and managerial occupations, “urban” versus “rural” matters.
Rural male managers and administrators earned over three times as much as their female counterparts, while
the gap in the urban areas was only 4%. However, for professional, technical and related staff the picture
was just the other way round: a small pay gap in rural areas (2%), against a large one (38%) in urban areas
Page ● 53
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
(CSO 2007c, 59-60) – resulting in an overall 33% gap in these occupations.
The division of earnings according to working hours deserve special attention. Hourly earnings for
those working less than 20 hours per week were quite high, especially for men but also for women; a considerably share of managers and administrators could be traced here. Hourly earnings of those working 20-39
hours were much lower, especially for men, ending up in a small pay gap (10%). The gap was large again for
those working long hours, over 40 per week. Especially hourly female wages in the longest hours’ category,
60 hours and more, were very low. Obviously, the long working weeks of many high-skilled women (see
next section) did not compensate for the fact that long hours were mostly worked by women that really
need(ed) the extra earnings derived from overtime to make ends meet.
2.8.2.
Working conditions
In Zambia, working conditions notably in mining have attracted public attention: fully understandable,
as occupational health and safety in mining is often questionable and in the 2000s, a series of grave accidents
happened here (ITUC 2009a, b). Yet, it may not be overlooked that bad working conditions, including occupational diseases and injuries, are much more widespread in the country. The 2005 Labour Force Survey
allows to go into the incidence of occupational diseases and injuries.
We first turn to working hours: the length of working time is a major issue in working conditions. Table
10 (next page) gives an overview of the length of average working weeks by a number of criteria. As for
industries, except for agriculture etc., where the working week in the period surveyed (November/December, thus in summer) was relatively short, long hours dominate clearly. The working weeks of women in the
Zambian labour force are on average less long than those of men, but still quite considerable – especially
taking into account their possible other obligations in life. Paid female employees on average worked over
47 hours, compared to over 53 hours for men. Near-universal are long working hours in transport etc., in
Zambia for both men and women, but maybe surprising is the second industry showing up in this respect,
restaurants and hotels, with 58.5 hours displaying the longest average working week for women. In trade etc.
and in finance etc., too, women made very long hours. This was especially so in urban areas, where women in
these two industries worked on average over 50 hours (CSO 2007c, 42). As for occupational groups, working weeks of managers and administrators were on average comparatively short, while by contrast those in
clerical and related, sales, and professional, technical and related jobs make very long hours. Again, among
women these long working weeks were especially an urban phenomenon, with women in clerical and related
as well as in sales jobs in urban areas working on average over 50 hours (CSO 2007c, 41). As for educational
Page ● 54
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
levels, average hours rose with skill, be it that the differences in Table 10 were mainly caused by relatively
short working weeks (around 30 hours) of unskilled and skilled women in rural areas. In urban areas, the
differences among women of various skill categories were smaller, except for the long average hours of females with a degree (with an average 48.7 hours only a fraction shorter than their male counterparts – CSO
2007c, 43).
Table 10 Average working week by industry, occupational group, area, employment status, sector, educational level and gender, Zambia, 2005 (November-December)
total
women
men
Agriculture, fishing etc.
29.7
28.9
30.6
Mining
56.1
38.4
57.4
Manufacturing
46.6
39.5
49.7
Electricity, gas, water supply
50.3
45.7
51.0
Construction
45.2
43.7
45.3
Trade, wholesale, retail
48.8
48.5
49.0
Restaurants, hotels
59.3
58.5
59.9
Transport, storage, communication
60.0
52.2
60.7
Finance, insurance, real estate
48.7
49.4
48.6
Community, social, personal serv.
46.2
43.7
48.5
Total
35.1
32.5
32.7
Administrat., managerial
40.2
37.2
42.3
Professional, technical etc.
50.2
47.5
51.3
Clerical and related
51.9
49.7
54.1
Sales
51.6
48.3
54.0
Production and related
50.5
43.3
52.7
Agricultural, forest., fishing
29.7
28.9
30.5
occup.
group
area
empl.
status
sector
educ.
level
urban areas
46.5
42.1
49.4
rural areas
30.6
29.5
31.7
self-employed
33.9
33.0
34.5
employer
37.5
38.1
37.0
paid employee
51.7
47.6
53.3
unpaid family worker
29.5
29.4
29.5
other status
25.5
25.6
25.3
central government
42.6
39.2
44.6
local government
40.8
38.3
42.4
parastatal companies
47.2
43.0
48.0
private companies
39.8
34.1
43.6
unskilled
32.2
31.0
33.4
skilled
40.0
36.7
41.6
highly skilled
46.7
45.7
47.5
Source: CSO 2007c
Page ● 55
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
As said, the 2005 Labour Force Survey also collected data on occupational diseases and injuries. For the
12 months prior to this survey, nearly one of five of those employed (19.9% of males, 19.1% of females)
reported illness. Of these, 35% reported diarrhoea, 24% fatigue, 18% lung problems, nearly 18% skin problems, and just under 5% allergies (No questions touched upon HIV/AIDS). This division hardly differed
by gender. The incidence of skin problems was relatively high among those aged 15-29, in contrast with the
incidence of the other four illnesses. If related to conditions in the workplace, over half of all reporting illness said to work in places where there was either a lot of dust, fumes and gas, or the environment was very
noisy. The share of those stating that their reported illness was due to the work performed, varied widely,
from 50% among those reporting fatigue, 18% for those reporting lung problems, to 3% for those reporting
diarrhoea. Except in the latter case, the “don’t know”answer category was with over 20% quite large.
According to the LFS 2005, a slightly higher share than those reporting illness, reported injury in the last
12 months: 20.7% of males, 20.4% of females. By far most reported (62%) was back and muscle pain, followed by wounds and deep cuts (20%), sight problems (14%) and hearing problems (4%). Women reported
wounds and deep cuts somewhat less frequently, and sight and hearing problems slightly more frequent than
men. As for age, the incidence of wounds and deep cuts was comparatively high among the 15-29 of age:
53% reported, against a labour market share of 47%. The other three categories were much less reported
by youngsters. The division of back and muscle pain as well as wounds and deep cuts across occupational
groups was nearly equal to their share in the labour force, but sight and hearing problems were comparatively much reported by production and related staff as well as administrative and managerial staff. Again,
the share of those stating that their reported injury was due to the work performed, varied widely, from 45%
for those reporting back and muscle pain, 36% for those reporting wounds and deep cuts, 14% with sight
problems, to 12% with hearing problems. However, in the last two categories over one of five respondents
answered “don’t know” (CSO 2007c).
It is noteworthy that the TCLC, the tripartite body, through its Working Group on Occupational Health
and Safety takes an active position in this field (Fashoyin 2002). In 2008, the government added 20 labour
and factory inspectors, bringing the total number of inspectors deployed to 91. Earlier, in 2006, president Mwanawasa expressed concerns on the detoriation in occupational health and safety in the workplace
(Times of Zambia 2008). There is an occupational disease and work injury scheme, the Workers’ Compensation Fund, but its coverage is quite limited, even in the formal sector (socialsecurityextension website).
Page ● 56
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
3. Basic information for WageIndicator
questionnaire
3.1. Introduction
Preparations for the DECISIONS FOR LIFE Activities 1.03a and 1.03b have resulted in a number of
lists, grouped in this Chapter and to be used in the WageIndicator web-survey for country-specific questions
and their analyses. This basic information can be used on-line, but if needed also off-line. The lists contain
information on Zambian trade unions (section 3.2), educational categories and ISCED levels (3.3), regions
(3.4), ethnic groups (3.5.1) and languages (3.5.2).
3.2. List of trade unions
The country’s trade union movement has already been introduced under Labour relations (section 2.3)..
Below, a full list can be found of the trade unions, designed for use in the web-survey.
Table 11 List of trade unions in Zambia (by 1/1/2009)
en_
ZM
en_
ZM
Source label
ZMB Airways and Allied
894100 894101 Workers Union of Zambia
(AAWUZA)
Translation
Translation
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU)
Airways and Allied Workers
Union of Zambia (AAWUZA)
Congress of Trade
Bankers Union of Zam- Zambia
894100 894102 ZMB
Unions
bia (BUZ)
(ZCTU)
Bankers Union of Zambia
(BUZ)
ZMB Basic Education
894100 894103 Teachers Union of Zambia
(BETUZ)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
Basic Education Teachers Union of Zambia (BETUZ)
Civil Servants Union of
894100 894104 ZMB
Zambia (CSAWUZ)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
Civil Servants Union of Zambia (CSAWUZ)
Copperbelt University
894100 894105 ZMB
Workers Union (CBUWU)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
Copperbelt University Workers
Union (CBUWU)
ZMB Gemstone and Allied
894100 894106 Workers Union of Zambia
(GAWUZ)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
Gemstone and Allied Workers
Union of Zambia (GAWUZ)
Congress of Trade
Grain and Meat Workers Zambia
894100 894107 ZMB
Unions
Union of Zambia (GMWU)
(ZCTU)
Grain and Meat Workers Union of Zambia (GMWU)
ZMB Hotels and Catering
894100 894108 Workers Union of Zambia
(HCWUZ)
Hotels and Catering Workers
Union of Zambia (HCWUZ)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
Page ● 57
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
Mineworkers Union of
894100 894109 ZMB
Zambia (MUZ)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ)
ZMB National Energy Sec894100 894110 tor and Allied Workers Union
(NESAWU)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
National Energy Sector and
Allied Workers Union (NESAWU)
ZMB National Union of
894100 894111 Building, Engineering and
General workers (NUBEGW)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
National Union of Building, Engineering and General
workers (NUBEGW)
ZMB National Union of Com- Zambia Congress of Trade
894100 894112 mercial and Industrial Workers Unions
(NUCIW)
(ZCTU)
National Union of Commercial and Industrial Workers
(NUCIW)
National Union of Com- Zambia Congress of Trade
894100 894113 ZMB
munication Workers (NUCW) Unions
(ZCTU)
National Union of Communication Workers (NUCW)
ZMB National Union of Plan- Zambia Congress of Trade
894100 894114 tation and Agricultural Work- Unions
ers (NUPAWZ)
(ZCTU)
National Union of Plantation and Agricultural Workers
(NUPAWZ)
National Union of Pub- Zambia Congress of Trade
894100 894115 ZMB
lic Service Workers (NUPSW) Unions
(ZCTU)
National Union of Public
Service Workers (NUPSW)
ZMB National Union of Tech- Zambia Congress of Trade
894100 894116 nical Education Lecturers and Unions
Allied Workers (NUTEL)
(ZCTU)
National Union of Technical
Education Lecturers and Allied
Workers (NUTEL)
ZMB National Union of
894100 894117 Transport and Allied Workers
(NUTAW)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
National Union of Transport
and Allied Workers (NUTAW)
Railway Workers Union
894100 894118 ZMB
of Zambia (RWUZ)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
Railway Workers Union of
Zambia (RWUZ)
ZMB United House and
894100 894119 Domestic Workers Union of
Zambia (UHDWUZ)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
United House and Domestic
Workers Union of Zambia
(UHDWUZ)
ZMB University of Zambia
894100 894120 and Allied Workers Union
(UNZAAWU)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
University of Zambia and
Allied Workers Union (UNZAAWU)
ZMB University of Zambia
894100 894121 Researchers and Lecturers
Union (UNZARALU)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
University of Zambia Researchers and Lecturers Union
(UNZARALU)
ZMB Workers Union of Tan- Zambia Congress of Trade
894100 894122 zania Zambia Railway Author- Unions
ity (WUTAZ)
(ZCTU)
Workers Union of Tanzania
Zambia Railway Authority
(WUTAZ)
Zambia Bus and Taxi
894100 894123 ZMB
Workers Union (ZATAWU)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
Zambia Bus and Taxi Workers
Union (ZATAWU)
ZMB Zambia National Union
894100 894124 of Health and Allied Workers
(ZNUHAW)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
Zambia National Union of
Health and Allied Workers
(ZNUHAW)
Zambia National Union
894100 894125 ZMB
of Teachers (ZNUT)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
Zambia National Union of
Teachers (ZNUT)
ZMB Zambia Revenue
894100 894126 Authority Workers Union
(ZRAWU)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
Zambia Revenue Authority
Workers Union (ZRAWU)
Zambia Union of Jour894100 894127 ZMB
nalists (ZUJ)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
Zambia Union of Journalists
(ZUJ)
Page ● 58
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
ZMB Zambia Union of Secu894100 894128 rity Officers and Allied Workers (ZUSAW)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
Zambia Union of Security
Officers and Allied Workers
(ZUSAW)
ZMB Zambia United Local
894100 894129 Authorities Workers Union
(ZULAWU)
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
Zambia United Local Authorities Workers Union (ZULAWU)
Zambia Typographical
894100 894130 ZMB
and Allied Workers Union
Zambia Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU)
Zambia Typographical and Allied Workers Union
ZMB Secondary Schools
894200 894201 Teachers Union of Zambia
(SESTUZ)
Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ)
Secondary Schools Teachers
Union of Zambia (SESTUZ)
ZMB Primary Education
894200 894202 Teachers Union of Zambia
(PETUZ)
Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ)
Primary Education Teachers
Union of Zambia (PETUZ)
ZMB Zambia Union of Fi894200 894203 nancial Institutions and Allied
Workers (ZUFIAW)
Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ)
Zambia Union of Financial
and Allied Workers (ZUFIAW)
Press Association of
894300 894301 ZMB
Zambia
Non-affiliated
Press Association of Zambia
Zambia Union of Nurs- Non-affiliated
894300 894302 ZMB
es Organisation
9999
Zambia Union of Nurses
Organisation
Other >>
3.3. List of educational categories and ISCED levels
Below, a full list of the educational categories used in Zambia, designed for use in the web-survey, can
be found.
Table 12 List of educational categories in Zambia (by 1/1/2009)
en_ZM
en_ZM
Translation
ISCED
894001
ZMB Lower Primary School (Grades 1-4)
Lower Primary School (Grades 1-4)
1
894002
ZMB Upper Primary School (Grades 5-7)
Upper Primary School (Grades 5-7)
1
894003
ZMB Basic education (Grades 8-9)
Basic education (Grades 1-9)
2
894004
ZMB Junior Secondary School
Junior Secondary School
2
894005
ZMB Senior Secondary School/High
School
Senior Secondary School/High
School
3
894006
ZMB Vocational certificate or diploma
Vocational certificate or diploma
3
894007
ZMB College diploma
College diploma
5
894008
ZMB University Bachelor’s Degree
University Bachelor’s Degree
5
894009
ZMB Master’s Degree
Master’s Degree
5
894010
ZMB Doctorate
Doctorate
6
Page ● 59
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
3.4. List of regions
Below, a full draft list of all Mozambican regions, designed for use in the web-survey, can be found.
Table 13 List of regions in Zambia (by 1/1/2009)
en_ZM
Source label
Translation
Translation
8940100000 8940100131 ZMB Central
ZMB Kabwe
Central
Kabwe
8940100000 8940100232 ZMB Central
ZMB Kapiri Mposhi
Central
Kapiri Mposhi
8940100000 8940100332 ZMB Central
ZMB Mumbwa
Central
Mumbwa
8940100000 8940109502 ZMB Central
ZMB The suburbs of a
large city
Central
The suburbs of a large
city
8940100000 8940109632 ZMB Central
ZMB A city (10,000 100,000)
Central
A city (10,000 or more)
8940100000 8940109704 ZMB Central
ZMB A village (less than
10,000)
Central
A village (less than
10,000)
8940100000 8940109805 ZMB Central
ZMB Rural area
Central
Rural area
8940110000 8940110131 ZMB Copperbelt ZMB Ndola
Copperbelt
Ndola
8940110000 8940110231 ZMB Copperbelt ZMB Kitwe
Copperbelt
Kitwe
8940110000 8940110331 ZMB Copperbelt ZMB Chingola
Copperbelt
Chingola
8940110000 8940110431 ZMB Copperbelt ZMB Mufulira
Copperbelt
Mufulira
8940110000 8940110531 ZMB Copperbelt ZMB Luanshya
Copperbelt
Luanshya
The suburbs of a
8940110000 8940119502 ZMB Copperbelt ZMB
large city
Copperbelt
The suburbs of a large
city
A city (10,000 8940110000 8940119632 ZMB Copperbelt ZMB
100,000)
Copperbelt
A city (10,000 or more)
A village (less than
8940110000 8940119704 ZMB Copperbelt ZMB
10,000)
Copperbelt
A village (less than
10,000)
8940110000 8940119805 ZMB Copperbelt ZMB Rural area
Copperbelt
Rural area
8940120000 8940120132 ZMB Eastern
ZMB Chipata
Eastern
Chipata
8940120000 8940120232 ZMB Eastern
ZMB Petauke
Eastern
Petauke
8940120000 8940120332 ZMB Eastern
ZMB Katete
Eastern
Katete
8940120000 8940129502 ZMB Eastern
ZMB The suburbs of a
large city
Eastern
The suburbs of a large
city
8940120000 8940129632 ZMB Eastern
ZMB A city (10,000 100,000)
Eastern
A city (10,000 or more)
8940120000 8940129704 ZMB Eastern
ZMB A village (less than
10,000)
Eastern
A village (less than
10,000)
8940120000 8940129805 ZMB Eastern
ZMB Rural area
Eastern
Rural area
8940130000 8940130132 ZMB Luapula
ZMB Mansa
Luapula
Mansa
8940130000 8940130232 ZMB Luapula
ZMB Nchelenge
Luapula
Nchelenge
8940130000 8940130332 ZMB Luapula
ZMB Kawambwa
Luapula
Kawambwa
8940130000 8940130432 ZMB Luapula
ZMB Samfya
Luapula
Samfya
8940130000 8940139502 ZMB Luapula
ZMB The suburbs of a
large city
Luapula
The suburbs of a large
city
8940130000 8940139632 ZMB Luapula
ZMB A city (10,000 100,000)
Luapula
A city (10,000 or more)
Page ● 60
en_ZM
Source label
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
8940130000 8940139704 ZMB Luapula
ZMB A village (less than
10,000)
Luapula
A village (less than
10,000)
8940130000 8940139805 ZMB Luapula
ZMB Rural area
Luapula
Rural area
8940140000 8940140101 ZMB Lusaka
ZMB Lusaka
Lusaka
Lusaka
8940140000 8940140232 ZMB Lusaka
ZMB Kafue
Lusaka
Kafue
8940140000 8940149502 ZMB Lusaka
ZMB The suburbs of a
large city
Lusaka
The suburbs of a large
city
8940140000 8940149632 ZMB Lusaka
ZMB A city (10,000 100,000)
Lusaka
A city (10,000 or more)
8940140000 8940149704 ZMB Lusaka
ZMB A village (less than
10,000)
Lusaka
A village (less than
10,000)
8940140000 8940149805 ZMB Lusaka
ZMB Rural area
Lusaka
Rural area
8940150000 8940150132 ZMB Northern
ZMB Kasama
Northern
Kasama
8940150000 8940150232 ZMB Northern
ZMB Mpika
Northern
Mpika
8940150000 8940150332 ZMB Northern
ZMB Mbala
Northern
Mbala
8940150000 8940159502 ZMB Northern
ZMB The suburbs of a
large city
Northern
The suburbs of a large
city
8940150000 8940159632 ZMB Northern
ZMB A city (10,000 100,000)
Northern
A city (10,000 or more)
8940150000 8940159704 ZMB Northern
ZMB A village (less than
10,000)
Northern
A village (less than
10,000)
8940150000 8940159805 ZMB Northern
ZMB Rural area
Northern
Rural area
North8940160000 8940160132 ZMB
Western
ZMB Solwezi
North-Western
Solwezi
North8940160000 8940160232 ZMB
Western
ZMB Mwinilunga
North-Western
Mwinilunga
North8940160000 8940169502 ZMB
Western
ZMB The suburbs of a
large city
North-Western
The suburbs of a large
city
North8940160000 8940169632 ZMB
Western
ZMB A city (10,000 100,000)
North-Western
A city (10,000 or more)
North8940160000 8940169704 ZMB
Western
ZMB A village (less than
10,000)
North-Western
A village (less than
10,000)
North8940160000 8940169805 ZMB
Western
ZMB Rural area
North-Western
Rural area
8940170000 8940170132 ZMB Southern
ZMB Livingstone (Maramba)
Southern
Livingstone (Maramba)
8940170000 8940170232 ZMB Southern
ZMB Mazabuka (incl.
Nakambala)
Southern
Mazabuka (incl. Nakambala)
8940170000 8940170332 ZMB Southern
ZMB Choma
Southern
Choma
8940170000 8940179502 ZMB Southern
ZMB The suburbs of a
large city
Southern
The suburbs of a large
city
8940170000 8940179632 ZMB Southern
ZMB A city (10,000 100,000)
Southern
A city (10,000 or more)
8940170000 8940179704 ZMB Southern
ZMB A village (less than
10,000)
Southern
A village (less than
10,000)
8940170000 8940179805 ZMB Southern
ZMB Rural area
Southern
Rural area
8940180000 8940180132 ZMB Western
ZMB Mongu
Western
Mongu
8940180000 8940180232 ZMB Western
ZMB Sesheke
Western
Sesheke
Page ● 61
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
8940180000 8940180332 ZMB Western
ZMB Kaoma
Western
Kaoma
8940180000 8940189502 ZMB Western
ZMB The suburbs of a
large city
Western
The suburbs of a large
city
8940180000 8940189632 ZMB Western
ZMB A city (10,000 100,000)
Western
A city (10,000 or more)
8940180000 8940189704 ZMB Western
ZMB A village (less than
10,000)
Western
A village (less than
10,000)
8940180000 8940189805 ZMB Western
ZMB Rural area
Western
Rural area
Page ● 62
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
3.5. Lists of ethnic groups and languages
3.5.1.
Ethnic groups
Concerning ethnic groups, 99.5% of the Zambian population is African (including Bemba, Tonga,
Chewa, Lozi, Nsenga, Tumbuka, Ngoni, Lala, Kaonde, Lunda, and other African groups), and others represent 0.5% (including Europeans, Asians, and Americans) (CSO, 2000 Census).
Below, a list of ethnic groups, designed for use in the web-survey, can be found.
Table 14List of ethnic groups in Zambia (by 1/1/2009)
en_ZM
Source label
894001
ZMB Bemba
Bemba
894002
ZMB Tonga
Tonga
894003
ZMB Lunda
Lunda
894004
ZMB Nyanja/Chewa
Nyanja/Chewa
894005
ZMB Mambwe
Mambwe
894006
ZMB Lozi/Barotse
Lozi/Barotse
894007
ZMB Tumbuka
Tumbuka
894008
ZMB Luvale/Balovale
Luvale/Balovale
894009
ZMB Kaonde
Kaonde
894010
ZMB Mukulu
Mukulu
894011
ZMB European
European
894999
ZMB Other
Other
894998
ZMB Not applicable
Not applicable
3.5.2.
Translation
Languages
The official language of Zambia is English, which is used to conduct official business and is the medium of instruction in schools. The main local language, especially in Lusaka, is Nyanja. However, Bemba
and Nyanja are spoken in the urban areas in addition to the about 40 other indigenous languages which are
commonly-spoken in Zambia. Estimates of the total number of languages spoken in Zambia add up to 72
(wikipedia). Below, a draft list of languages spoken in Zambia designed for use in the web-survey, can be
found.
Page ● 63
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
Table 15
List of languages in Zambia (by 1/1/2009)
en_ZM
Source label
Translation
894001
ZMB English
English
894002
ZMB Nyanja
Nyanja
894003
ZMB Tonga
Tonga
894004
ZMB Lozi
Lozi
894005
ZMB Tumbuka
Tumbuka
894006
ZMB Bemba
Bemba
894007
ZMB Kaonde
Kaonde
894008
ZMB Lunda
Lunda
894009
ZMB Lamba
Lamba
894010
ZMB Luvale
Luvale
894998
ZMB Local dialect
Local dialect
894999
ZMB Other language
Other language
894001
ZMB English
English
Page ● 64
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
References
Africa Labour Researchers Network (ALRN) (2004) Trade Unions in Africa. Zambia. w.p. (pp. 2-4)
ALRN (Anthony Yaw Baah, Herbert Jauch, eds) (2009) Chinese Investments in Africa: A Labour Perspective (Summary: http://www.fnv.nl/binary/Summary%20Chinese%20investments%20in%20Africa%20
ALRN_tcm7-24391.pdf , Accessed September 3, 2009)
African Development Bank (AfDB) / Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
(2008) African Economic Outlook. Zambia. w.p.
Bodibe, Oupa (ed.) (2006) The Extent and Effects of Casualisation in Southern Africa: Analysis of Lesotho,
Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Research Report for the Danish Federation of Workers. Johannesburg, SA: NALEDI
Burger, Ronelle, Rulof Burger, Servaas van der Berg (2004) A Note on Trends in the Zambian Labour Market between 1991 and 1998. Matieland, SA: Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics
Carmody, Padraig (2009) An Asian-Driven Economic Recovery in Africa? The Zambian Case, World Development, 37(7): 1197-1207
Central Statistical Office (CSO) (2005) Living Conditions and Monitoring Survey Report 2004. Lusaka
CSO (2006a) The Monthly. Volume 45. December. Lusaka
CSO (2006b) The Monthly. Volume 39. July. Lusaka
CSO (2007a) Gender Based Violence (GBV) Survey 2006. Lusaka
CSO (2007b) The Monthly. Volume 56. November. Lusaka
CSO (2007c) Labour Force Survey Report (LFS – 2005). Lusaka
CSO (2008) Living Conditions. Lusaka (leaflet)
CSO (2009a) The Monthly. Volume 76. July. Lusaka
CSO (2009b) The Monthly. Volume 75. June. Lusaka
CSO (2009c) The Monthly. Volume 74. May. Lusaka
CSO (2009d) The Monthly. Volume 73. April. Lusaka
CSO (2009e) Living Conditions (leaflet) (http://www.zamstats.gov.zm/lcm.php)
Cheelo, Caesar, Jack Jones Zulu (2007) Zambia: Debt Strategies to Meet the Millenium Development Goals
(Final Report). Lusaka: UNDP
CIA World Factbook. Zambia (ongoing, last update used: August 12, 2009) (https://www.cia.gov/library/
publications/the-world-factbook/geos/za.html )
Cord, Louise, Marijn Verhoeven, Camilla Blomquist, Bob Rijkers (2009) The Global Economic Crisis: Assessing Vulnerability with a Poverty Lens. Washington D.C.: World Bank research note
Fafchamps, Marcel, Mans Soederbom, Najy Benhassine (2009) Wage Gaps and Job Sorting in African Manufacturing, Journal of African Economics, advance access published April 3: 1-45
Fashoyin, Tayo (2002) The Contribution of Social Dialogue to Economic and Social Development in
Page ● 65
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
Zambia. Geneva: International Labour Office, InFocus Programme on Strengthening Social Dialogue,
Working Paper 6
Fashoyin, Tayo (2008) Employment Relations in Zambia, Employee Relations, 30(4): 391-403
Fontana, Marzia (2004) Modelling the Effects of Trade on Women, at Work and at Home: Comparative
Perspectives, Economie internationale, 99: 49-80
Global Union Directory, Zambia (Ongoing: http://www.younionize.info/directory/?show=z ) (last accessed August 30, 2009)
Hausmann, Ricardo, Laura D. Tyson, Saadia Zahidi (2008) The Global Gender Gap Report 2008. Geneva:
World Economic Forum
International Labour Office (ILO) Labour Statistics (Ongoing: http://laborsta.ilo.org/)
ILO Natlex Database, Zambia (Ongoing: http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex_browse.country?p_
lang=en&p_country=ZMB)
International Monetary Fund (IMF) (2008a) Zambia: Selected Issues. Washington D.C.: IMF Country Report No. 08/29, January
IMF (2008b) Statement by the IMF Staff Mission at the Conclusion of a Visit to Zambia. Press Release No.
08/34 (https://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2008/pr0834.htm)
IMF (2009a) Statement at the Conclusion of an IMF Staff Mission to Zambia. Press Release No. 09/55,
March (https://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2009/pr0955.htm)
IMF (2009b) “IMF Survey: Crisis Threatens Millions in Africa, Ministers Say”, Press Release April 26 (https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2009/car042609a.htm)
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) (2009a) Annual Report of Violations of Trade Union
Rights. Zambia. Brussels
ITUC (2009b) Internationally Recognised Core Labour Standards in Zambia. Report for the WTO General
Council Review of the Trade Policies of Zambia. Brussels (http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/Zambia.final.pdf)(Summary: http://www.ituc-csi.org/spip.php?article4100)
Inter Press Service (IPS) (2009) “Zambia: NGO Bill Still Inspires No Confidence” (http://www.ips.org/
mdg3/zambia-ngo-bill-still-inspires-no-confidence/), 4 August
Kabange, Sanday Chongo (2009a) „The Gender Wage“ (for WageIndicator: http://mywage.org/zambia/
main/gender-and-work/the-gender-wage)
Kabange, Sanday Chongo (2009b) „Review Minimum Wage in Zambia“ (for WageIndicator: http://mywage.org/zambia/main/minimum-wage/zambia-to-review-minimum-wage-1/)
Koyi, Grayson (2006a) Zambia Country Report. The Situation of the Metal and Engineering Sector in Zambia. Lusaka: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Zambia Office, 30 March
Koyi, Grayson (2006b) Trade Union Involvement in the Informal Economy in Zambia. Draft. Paper to be
presented at the FES/LARRI Regional Workshop on Dealing with the Informal Economy: A Challenge
for Trade Unions in Southern Africa, 17-19 October, Windhoek
Leinonen, Teemu (2000) Equality of Education. A comparative study of educational ideologies of the
World Bank and the governments of Zambia in 1971 – 1996. Tampere: University of Tampere, Department of Education
Lusaka Times (2008a) “Labour Stakeholders propose minimum wage of K600, 000” (1 April)
Page ● 66
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
Lusaka Times (2008b) “Minimum Wage Act under review” (25 September)
Meredith, Martin (2005) The State of Africa. A History of Fifty Years of Independence. London etc.: The
Free Press
Morna, Colleen Lowe, Kubi Rama, Sikhonzile Ndlovu (eds) Glass Ceilings. Women and men in Southern Africa media. Zambia. Johannesburg: Genderlinks (also: http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=21621)
Moyo, Dambisa (2009) Dead Aid. Why Aid is Not Working and How There is Another Way for Africa.
London: Allen Lane/Penguin
Muneku, Austin C. (2002) Trade Union Membership and Profile in Zambia. Kitwe: ZCTU Economics and
Research Department
Nielsen, Helena Skyt (2000) Wage discrimination in Zambia: an extension of the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, Applied Economic Letters, 7: 405-408
Nielsen, Helena Skyt, Michael Rosholm (2001) The public-private sector wage gap in Zambia in the 1990s:
A quantile regression approach, Empirical Economics, 26: 169-182
Petrauskis, Chris (2005) Restoring dignity to employment in Zambia: legal and moral motivation to promote
the common good. Preliminary reactions. Lusaka: Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection „Promoting
Faith and Justice“
Rakner, Lise (2001) The Pluralist Paradox: The Decline of Economic Interest Groups in Zambia in the
1990s, Development and Change, 32(3): 521-543
Rakner, Lise (2003) Political and Economic Liberalisation in Zambia 1991-2001. Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
Salinas, Gonzalo, Markus Haacker (2006) HIV/AIDS: The Impact on Poverty and Inequality. w.p.: IMF
Working Paper WP/06/126, African Department
Sanday [Kabange, Sanday Chongo] (2009) „AIDS Continues To Hit Zambian Economy Amid Economic
Crisis“ (weblog, http://www.africanews.com/site/list_message/21647, 6 August)
Seshamani, Venkatesh (2002) The PRSP Process in Zambia. Economic Commission for Africa: Second
Meeting of the African Learning Group on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP-LG), 18-21
November, Brussels
SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) (2008) Information sheets (on www.regoverningmarkets.org, last accessed August 30, 2009)
Times of Zambia (2008) “Zambia: Worker Headed for Decency, Prosperity Challenges” (1 May)
United Nations (UN) (2005) Report on the Implementation of the Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries (2001-2010) in Zambia. Lusaka
UN (2006) Demographic Yearbook (http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm)
UN (2007) UN Gender Info 2007 Database (UN Data website)
UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS / World Health Organisation (WHO)) (2007)
07 AIDS Epidemic Update. Geneva
UNAIDS / WHO (2008) 07 Sub-Saharan epidemic update. Regional Summary. Geneva
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2003) Eradication of Hunger in Zambia: An Agenda
for Enhancing the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Lusaka
Page ● 67
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
UNDP (2007) 2007 Zambia Human Development Report. Enhancing household capacity to respond to
HIV and AIDS. Youth-friendly Version. Lusaka
UNDP (2008a) UNDP Human Development Indices (2008) (http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDI_2008_
EN_Tables.pdf)
UNDP (2008b) 2007/2008 Human Development Report. Country Factsheet (http://hdrstats.undp.org/
countries/data_sheets/cty_ds_ZMB.html )
UNI (2008) Letter of Philip Jennings, General Secretary UNI Global Union to ILO Director General, Juan
Somavia on Zambia, 20 May
US Dept of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (2008)(2009a) Zambia (http://www.
state.gov/g/drl/rls/afdr/2009/af/122856.htm)
US Dept of State, Bureau of African Affairs (2009b) Background Note: Zambia (http://www.state.gov/p/
af/ci/za/ )
US Library of Congress, Law online (http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/zambia.php)
Website MyWage-WageIndicator - page Zambia – Gender and Work (last accessed August 30, 2009) (http://
www.mywage.org/zambia/main/gender-and-work)
website www.allAfrica.com, various messages (last accessed August 23, 2009)
website Columbia University (last accessed August 23, 2009) http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/
africa/cuvl/zambiaecon.html
website Central Statistical Office (CSO) (last accessed August 30, 2009) (http://www.zamstats.gov.zm/ )
website FRONTLINE World (last accessed August 22, 2009) (http://www.bized.co.uk/virual/dc/back/
econ.htm)
website GenderLinks (last accessed August 22, 2009) (http://www.genderlinks.org.za)
website InternetWorldstatistics (last accessed August 10, 2009) (http://www.internetworldstats.com)
website ILO Lusaka office ((last accessed August 24, 2009) (http://www.ilo.org/)
website Mine Watch Zambia (blog) (last accessed August 30, 2009) (http://www.minewatchzambia.com )
website OECD-SIGI (Social Institutions & Gender Index) Zambia (last accessed August 30, 2009) (http://
genderindex.org/country/zambia)
website Gess – socialsecurityextension (last accessed August 30, 2009) (http://www.socialsecurityextension.org/gimi/gess/ShowCountryProfile.do?cid=238&aid=2)
website United Nations (UN) Millenium Development Goals (MDG) indicators (last accessed August 30,
2009) (http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Default.aspx)
website UN Data (last accessed August 30, 2009) (www.//data.un.org/)
wikipedia Zambia (last accessed August 30, 2009)
World Bank World Development Indicators online (in text: World Bank – WDI) (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
(http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/DATASTATISTICS/0,,contentMDK:21725423
~pagePK:64133150~piPK:64133175~theSitePK:239419,00.html)
World Bank (2008) Poverty data. A supplement to World Development Indicators 2008 (in text: World
Bank – WDI – Suppl)
Page ● 68
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
World Bank (2009) “In Africa, ‘Poverty Has a Female Face’” (accessed August 22, 2009) (http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT, May 15)
World Health Organization (WHO) (2008) World Health Statistics 2008. Rome
WHO (2009) World Health Statistics 2009. Rome
Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) Report of the 12th Quadrennial Congress. Lusaka
Zambia Development Agency (ZDA)(2009a) Labour Considerations. Lusaka
ZDA (2009b) Economic Empowerment. Lusaka (http://www.zda.org.zm/186-economic-empowerment)
Zambia Federation of Employers (ZFE) (2009) April Newsletter. Lusaka: ZFE
Page ● 69
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
Page ● 70
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
What is WageIndicator?
WageIndicator has websites in 50 countries. In every country, a national website has a free Salary Check.
This Check provides detailed information about the wages, on average earned in a wide range of occupations, taken into account personal characteristics, such as tenure/age, education, supervisory position, region and alike.
Apart from the Salary Check, the websites in many countries have attractive web-tools, such as Minimum Wage Checks, DecentWorkCheck, Gross-Net Earnings Check, and alike. In addition, most websites
have content about wages, working conditions, labor standards and related topics. Each country has at least
one website. Multilingual countries have two or more websites. In addition, many countries have websites
for target groups, for example women or youth. The project website is www.wageindicator.org.
Worldwide, the national WageIndicator websites attract large numbers of web-visitors; in 2007 in total
more than 10 million . The websites are consulted by workers for their job mobility decisions, annual performance talks or wage negotiations. They are consulted by school pupils, students or re-entrant women
facing occupational choices, or by employers in small and medium sized companies when recruiting staff or
negotiating wages with their employees.
In return for all free information provided, the web-visitors are encouraged to complete a web-survey,
which takes 10 to 20 minutes. The survey has detailed questions about earnings, benefits, working conditions,
employment contract, training, as well as questions about education, occupation, industry, and household
characteristics. This web-survey is comparable across all countries. The web-survey is continuously posted
at all WageIndicator websites, of course in the national language(s) and adapted to country-specific issues,
where needed. The data from the web-survey are used for the calculations, underlying the Salary Check. For
occupations with at least 50 observations in the national database a salary indication can be calculated. The
Salary Checks are updated annually.
The project started in 2000 in the Netherlands with a large-scale, paper-based survey to collect data on
women’s wages. In 2001 the first WageIndicator website with a Salary Check and a web-survey was launched.
Since 2004, websites were launched in European countries, in North and South America, in South-Africa, and
in countries in Asia. All large economies of the world currently have a WageIndicator website, among which
the USA, the Russian Federation, China, India and Brazil. From 2009 onwards, websites will be launched in
more African countries, as well as in Indonesia and in a number of post-soviet countries. More information
about the WageIndicator Foundation and its activities can be found at www.wageindicator.org.
Page ● 71
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
Page ● 72
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
AIAS Working Papers
Recent publications of the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies. They can be downloaded
from our website www.uva-aias.net under the subject Publications.
09-79
An Overview of Women’s Work and Employment in South Africa
Decisions for Life Country Report 3
2009 - Maarten van Klaveren, Kea Tijdens, Melanie Hughie-Williams and Nuria Ramos
09-78
An Overview of Women’s Work and Employment in Angola
Decisions for Life Country Report 2
2009 - Maarten van Klaveren, Kea Tijdens, Melanie Hughie-Williams and Nuria Ramos
09-77
An Overview of Women’s Work and Employment in Mozambique
Decisions for Life Country Report 1
2009 - Maarten van Klaveren, Kea Tijdens, Melanie Hughie-Williams and Nuria Ramos
09-76
Comparing different weighting procedures for volunteer web surveys. Lessons to be learned
from German and Dutch Wage indicator data
2009 - Stephanie Steinmetz and Kea Tijdens
09-75
Welfare reform in the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland. Change within the limits of path
dependence.
2009 - Minna van Gerven
09-74
Flexibility and security: an asymmetrical relationship? The uncertain relevance of flexicurity
policies for segmented labour markets and residual welfare regimes
2009 - Aliki Mouriki (guest at AIAS from October 2008 - March 2009)
09-73
Education, Inequality, and Active Citizenship Tensions in a Differentiated Schooling System
2009 - Herman van de Werfhorst
09-72
An analysis of firm support for active labor market policies in Denmark, Germany, and the
Netherlands
2009 - Moira Nelson
08-71
The Dutch minimum wage radical reduction shifts main focus to part-time jobs
2008 - Wiemer Salverda
08-70
Parallelle innovatie als een vorm van beleidsleren: Het voorbeeld van de keten van werk en
inkomen
2008 - Marc van der Meer, Bert Roes
08-69
Balancing roles - bridging the divide between HRM, employee participation and learning in the
Dutch knowledge economy
2008 - Marc van der Meer, Wout Buitelaar
08-68
From policy to practice: Assessing sectoral flexicurity in the Netherlands
October 2008 - Hesther Houwing / Trudie Schils
08-67
The first part-time economy in the world. Does it work?
Republication August 2008 - Jelle Visser
Page ● 73
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
08-66
Gender equality in the Netherlands: an example of Europeanisation of social law and policy
May 2008 - Nuria E.Ramos-Martin
07-65
Activating social policy and the preventive approach for the unemployed in the
Netherlands
January 2008 - Minna van Gerven
07-64
Struggling for a proper job: Recent immigrants in the Netherlands
January 2008 - Aslan Zorlu
07-63
Marktwerking en arbeidsvoorwaarden – de casus van het openbaar vervoer, de energiebedrijven
en de thuiszorg
July 2007 - Marc van der Meer, Marian Schaapman & Monique Aerts
07-62
Vocational education and active citizenship behaviour in cross-national perspective
November 2007 - Herman G. van der Werfhorst
07-61
The state in industrial relations: The politics of the minimum wage in Turkey and the USA
November 2007 - Ruÿa Gökhan Koçer & Jelle Visser
07-60
Sample bias, weights and efficiency of weights in a continuous web voluntary survey
September 2007 - Pablo de Pedraza, Kea Tijdens & Rafael Muñoz de Bustillo
07-59
Globalization and working time: Work-Place hours and flexibility in Germany
October 2007 - Brian Burgoon & Damian Raess
07-58
Determinants of subjective job insecurity in 5 European countries
August 2007 - Rafael Muñoz de Bustillo & Pablo de Pedraza
07-57
Does it matter who takes responsibility?
May 2007 - Paul de Beer & Trudie Schils
07-56
Employement protection in dutch collective labour agreements
April 2007 - Trudie Schils
07-54
Temporary agency work in the Netherlands
February 2007 - Kea Tijdens, Maarten van Klaveren, Hester Houwing, Marc van der Meer &
Marieke van Essen
07-53
Distribution of responsibility for social security and labour market policy – Country report:
Belgium
January 2007 - Johan de Deken
07-52
Distribution of responsibility for social security and labour market policy – Country report:
Germany
January 2007 - Bernard Ebbinghaus & Werner Eichhorst
07-51
Distribution of responsibility for social security and labour market policy – Country report:
Denmark
January 2007 - Per Kongshøj Madsen
07-50
Distribution of responsibility for social security and labour market policy – Country report:
The United Kingdom
January 2007 - Jochen Clasen
Page ● 74
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
07-49
Distribution of responsibility for social security and labour market policy – Country report:
The Netherlands
January 2007 - Trudie Schils
06-48
Population ageing in the Netherlands: demographic and financial arguments for a balanced
approach
January 2007 - Wiemer Salverda
06-47
The effects of social and political openness on the welfare state in 18 OECD countries,
1970-2000
January 2007 - Ferry Koster
06-46
Low Pay Incidence and Mobility in the Netherlands- Exploring the Role of Personal, Job and
Employer Characteristics
October 2006 - Maite Blázques Cuesta & Wiemer Salverda
06-45
Diversity in Work: The Heterogeneity of Women’s Labour Market Participation
Patterns”
September 2006 - Mara Yerkes
06-44
Early retirement patterns in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom
October 2006 - Trudie Schils
06-43
Women’s working preferences in the Netherlands, Germany and the UK
August 2006 - Mara Yerkes
05-42
Wage Bargaining Institutions in Europe: a happy Marriage or preparing for Divorce?
December 2005 - Jelle Visser
05-41
The Work-Family Balance on the Union’s Agenda
December 2005 - Kilian Schreuder
05-40
Boxing and Dancing: Dutch Trade Union and Works Council Experiences Revisited
November 2005 - Maarten van Klaveren & Wim Sprenger
05-39
Analysing employment practices in Western European Multinationals: coordination, industrial
relations and employment flexibility in Poland
October 2005 - Marta Kahancova & Marc van der Meer
05-38
Income distribution in the Netherlands in the 20th century: long-run developments and cyclical
properties
September 2005 - Emiel Afman
05-37
Search, Mismatch and Unemployment
July 2005 - Maite Blazques & Marcel Jansen
05-36
Women’s Preferences or Delineated Policies? The development of part-time work in the
Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom
July 2005 - Mara Yerkes & Jelle Visser
05-35
Vissen in een vreemde vijver: Het werven van verpleegkundigen en verzorgenden in het
buitenland
May 2005 - Judith Roosblad
Page ● 75
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
05-34
Female part-time employment in the Netherlands and Spain: an analysis of the reasons for taking
a part-time job and of the major sectors in which these jobs are performed
May 2005 - Elena Sirvent Garcia del Valle
05-33
Een Functie met Inhoud 2004 - Een enquête naar de taakinhoud van secretaressen 2004, 2000, 1994
April 2005 - Kea Tijdens
04-32
Tax evasive behavior and gender in a transition country
November 2004 - Klarita Gërxhani
04-31
How many hours do you usually work? An analysis of the working hours questions in
17 large-scale surveys in 7 countries
November 2004 - Kea Tijdens
04-30
Why do people work overtime hours? Paid and unpaid overtime working in the
Netherlands
August 2004 - Kea Tijdens
04-29
Overcoming Marginalisation? Gender and Ethnic Segregation in the Dutch Construction, Health,
IT and Printing Industries
July 2004 - Marc van der Meer
04-28
The Work-Family Balance in Collective agreements. More Female employees, More Provisions?
July 2004 - Killian Schreuder
04-27
Female Income, the Ego Effect and the Divorce Decision: Evidence from Micro Data
March 2004 - Randy Kesselring (Professor of Economics at Arkansas State University, USA) was
guest at AIAS in April and May 2003
04-26
Economische effecten van Immigratie – Ontwikkeling van een Databestand en eerste analyses
Januari 2004 - Joop Hartog & Aslan Zorlu
03-25
Wage Indicator – Dataset Loonwijzer
Januari 2004 - Kea Tijdens
03-24
Codeboek DUCADAM Dataset
December 2003 - Kilian Schreuder & Kea Tijdens
03-23
Household Consumption and Savings Around the Time of Births and the Role of Education
December 2003 - Adriaan S. Kalwij
03-22
A panel data analysis of the effects of wages, standard hours and unionisation on paid overtime
work in Britain
October 2003 - Adriaan S. Kalwij
03-21
A Two-Step First-Difference Estimator for a Panel Data Tobit Model
December 2003 - Adriaan S. Kalwij
03-20
Individuals’ Unemployment Durations over the Business Cycle
June 2003 - Adriaan Kalwei
03-19
Een onderzoek naar CAO-afspraken op basis van de FNV cao-databank en de AWVN-database
December 2003 - Kea Tijdens & Maarten van Klaveren
Page ● 76
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
03-18
Permanent and Transitory Wage Inequality of British Men, 1975-2001: Year, Age and Cohort
Effects
October 2003 - Adriaan S. Kalwij & Rob Alessie
03-17
Working Women’s Choices for Domestic Help
October 2003 - Kea Tijdens, Tanja van der Lippe & Esther de Ruijter
03-16
De invloed van de Wet arbeid en zorg op verlofregelingen in CAO’s
October 2003 - Marieke van Essen
03-15
Flexibility and Social Protection
August 2003 - Ton Wilthagen
03-14
Top Incomes in the Netherlands and The United Kingdom over the Twentieth Century
September 2003 - A.B.Atkinson & dr. W. Salverda
03-13
Tax Evasion in Albania: an Institutional Vacuum
April 2003 - Klarita Gërxhani
03-12
Politico-Economic Institutions and the Informal Sector in Albania
May 2003 - Klarita Gërxhani
03-11
Tax Evasion and the Source of Income: An experimental study in Albania and the
Netherlands
May 2003 - Klarita Gërxhani
03-10
Chances and limitations of “benchmarking” in the reform of welfare state structures - the case
of pension policy
May 2003 - Martin Schludi
03-09
Dealing with the “flexibility-security-nexus: Institutions, strategies, opportunities and barriers
May 2003 - Ton Wilthagen & Frank Tros
03-08
Tax Evasion in Transition: Outcome of an Institutional Clash -Testing Feige’s Conjecture
March 2003 - Klarita Gërxhani
03-07
Teleworking Policies of Organisations- The Dutch Experiencee
February 2003 - Kea Tijdens & Maarten van Klaveren
03-06
Flexible Work- Arrangements and the Quality of Life
February 2003 - Cees Nierop
01-05
Employer’s and employees’ preferences for working time reduction and working time
differentiation – A study of the 36 hours working week in the Dutch banking industry
2001 - Kea Tijdens
01-04
Pattern Persistence in Europan Trade Union Density
October 2001 - Danielle Checchi & Jelle Visser
01-03
Negotiated flexibility in working time and labour market transitions – The case of the
Netherlands
2001 - Jelle Visser
Page ● 77
M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
01-02
Substitution or Segregation: Explaining the Gender Composition in Dutch Manufacturing
Industry 1899 – 1998
June 2001 - Maarten van Klaveren & Kea Tijdens
00-01
The first part-time economy in the world. Does it work?
June 2000 - Jelle Visser
Page ● 78
An overview of women’s work and employment in Zambia
Information about AIAS
AIAS is a young interdisciplinary institute, established in 1998, aiming to become the leading expert centre in the Netherlands for research on industrial relations, organisation of work, wage formation and labour
market inequalities. As a network organisation, AIAS brings together high-level expertise at the University
of Amsterdam from five disciplines:
● Law
● Economics
● Sociology
● Psychology
● Health and safety studies
AIAS provides both teaching and research. On the teaching side it offers a Masters in Comparative
Labour and Organisation Studies and one in Human Resource Management. In addition, it organizes special courses in co-operation with other organisations such as the Netherlands Centre for Social Innovation
(NCSI), the Netherlands Institute for Small and Medium-sized Companies (MKB-Nederland), the National
Centre for Industrial Relations ‘De Burcht’, the National Institute for Co-determination (GBIO), and the
Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’. AIAS has an extensive research program
(2004-2008) on Institutions, Inequalities and Internationalisation, building on the research performed by its
member scholars. Current research themes effectively include:
● Wage formation, social policy and industrial relations
● The cycles of policy learning and mimicking in labour market reforms in Europe
● The distribution of responsibility between the state and the market in social security
● The wage-indicator and world-wide comparison of employment conditions
● The projects of the LoWER network
Page ● 79
Amsterdam Institute for Advanced labour Studies
University of Amsterdam
Plantage Muidergracht 12 ● 1018 TV Amsterdam ● The Netherlands
Tel +31 20 525 4199 ● Fax +31 20 525 4301
aias@uva.nl ● www.uva-aias.net
Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.
To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to upgrade your browser.
Related Papers
Matieland, SA: Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics, 2004
Download
Download
Donwell Enterprises, Chingola, 2019
Download
Saha Raporu, 2023
Download
Veterinary World, 2024
Download
Cinzia Ferrini, 2023
Download
