This post is written by Joy Udochi Okeagu, Innovations and Partnerships Officer, Nigeria for Women Project (NFWP) and Community Development Officer of Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Nigeria.

  • The problem: How do you reduce gender barriers in the formal labour market?
  • Why it matters: Over 70% of women in Nigeria are either unemployed, engaged in informal and unpaid work, or at the bottom of the employment pyramid.
  • The solution: Address the issues from the root cause, which is socialisation.

Each time we talk about gender inequality and equal access to opportunities, patriarchy or men’s power dominance receives the biggest share of the blame. Often, we hear comments like; “the man is the head of the family, it is what he wants that we do; the men of the house have a final say; the men control the resources, they determine what a woman gets; or it is until men align with women that we can progress on gender equality”. As much as these conclusions are true, could we look a little deeper and ask who is really responsible for this: the man or the community (both men and women)?

We have made several efforts to treat the issues of gender inequality as first, a women’s issue, and in recent times, it has started becoming a men’s issue. However,these arguments have come from the ‘victim vs masculinity’ perspective, as opposed to the fundamental subject of socialisation, which is a community’s role. Gender socialisation begins at birth, intensifies during adolescence and contributes to gender inequalities in education, employment, income, empowerment, and other significant outcomes of well-being during adolescence and later in life.

Gender socialisation begins at birth, intensifies during adolescence and contributes to gender inequalities in education, employment, income, empowerment, and other significant outcomes of well-being during adolescence and later in life.

We have blamed the women’s poor participation in the formal labour market on patriarchy, but may have to take a step back and see what happens when a child is born. Is that child treated first on the basis of being human, or on the basis of sex? It is easy to answer ‘human first’, but is that really the true picture, or does the sex determine everything the child does and the opportunities he/she gets? Let’s also keep in mind that the child is not trained by the father alone.

Addressing the issue

Women’s engagement in the labour market has to be done with a deliberate effort to address the limitations they face at the individual, community and sectoral levels. For instance, we must begin to think of setting up structures and enforcing policies that will support women and create a balance between family values and work ethics. This might be the only way to move women up the labour market pyramid.

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