THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE INFORMAL ECONOMY TO THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN-HEADED HOUSEHOLDS IN THE CHEGUTU URBAN DISTRICT IN ZIMBABWE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15270/48-1-101Abstract
Of the millions of people living in poverty, women and children are the most detrimentally affected. It is believed that 60-70% of the world’s poor are female and that the trend towards greater poverty among women is intensifying (Chant, 2003). Women who are poor are not only deprived of basic needs; they lack access to resources such as education, land and credit facilities. According to Buvinić and Gupta (1997), women who head households are worthy of special attention because they are triply disadvantaged: firstly, they experience the burdens of poverty; secondly, they experience gender discrimination; and lastly, they have to deal with an absence of support.Downloads
References
BECKER, K.F. 2004. The informal economy. Sida. Department for Infrastructure and Economic Co-operation.
BIANCHI, S. 1999. Femininization and juvenilization of poverty: trends, relative risks, causes and consequences. JSTOR. Annual Review of Sociology. [Online] Available: http:// www.JSTORAnnualReviewofSociologyVol_25,p_307.htm. [Accessed: 28/04/2007].
BLUNCH, N.H., CANAGARAJAH, S. & RAJU, D. 2001. The informal sector revisited: a synthesis across space and time. Social Protection Discussion Paper Series. Social Protection Unit. Human Development Network. The World Bank.
BUVINIĆ, M. & GUPTA, G.R. 1997. Female-headed households and female maintained families: are they worth targeting to reduce poverty in developing countries? Economic Development and Cultural Change, 45(2):259-280.
CANAGARAJAH, S. & SETHIRAMAN, S.V. 2001. Social protection and the informal sector in developing countries: challenges and opportunities. Social Protection Discussion Paper Series. Social Protection Unit. Human Development Network. The World Bank.
CHAKANYA, M. 2008. Zimbabwe Country Report. Paper presented at the International Labour Organisation Trade Union. June 2008.
CHANT, S. 2003. Female household headship and the feminisation of poverty: facts, fiction and forward strategies. London School of Gender Institute. New Working Paper Series.
CHEN, M.A., VANEK, J. & CARR, M. 2004. Mainstreaming informal employment and gender in poverty reduction: a handbook for policy-makers and other stakeholders. Wakefield, UK: Commonwealth Secretariat.
CHIRISA, I. 2009. The geography of Informal Sector Operations (ISOs): a perspective of urban Zimbabwe. Journal of Geography and Regional Planning, 4(2):066-079.
DE VOS, A.S. 2005. Qualitative data analysis and interpretation. In: DE VOS, A.S. (ed) Research at grass roots for the social sciences and human sciences professions (3rd ed). Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers.
FOUCHÉ, C.B & DE VOS, A.S. 2005. Problem formulation. In: DE VOS, A.S. (ed) Research at grass roots for the social sciences and human sciences professions (3rd ed). Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers.
FOUCHÉ, C.B. & DELPORT, C.S.L. 2005. Introduction to the research process. In: DE VOS, A.S. (ed) Research at grass roots for the social sciences and human sciences professions (3rd ed). Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers.
GITTEL, R. & VIDAL, A. 1998. Community organizing. California: Sage Publications.
GREEFF, M. 2005. Information collection: interviewing. In: DE VOS, A.S. (ed) Research at grass roots for the social sciences and human sciences professions (3rd ed). Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers.
GUHA-KHASNOBIS, B., KANBUR, R. & OSTROM, E. 2007. Linking the formal and informal economy: concepts and policies. New York: Oxford University Press.
HORRELL, S. & KRISHMAN, P. 2006. Poverty and productivity in female-headed households in Zimbabwe. Faculty of Economics. University of Cambridge, Cambridge.
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SOCIAL WELFARE (ICSW). 2000. Globalisation and social development. A three-point plan for strengthening International Cooperation. A paper delivered at the International Symposium, Partnership for Social Development in a Globalising World. Geneva, 27 June 2000.
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION. 2002. Women and men in the informal economy: a statistical picture. Employment Sector. ILO Geneva.
KALWIJ, A. & VESCHOOR, A. 2007. Globalisation and poverty trends across regions: the role of variation in income and inequality elasticities of poverty. In: NISSANKE, M. & THORBECKE, E. The impact of globalisation on the world’s poor: transmission mechanisms. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
LEACH, F. 1999. Women in the informal sector: the contribution of education and training. In: ROWAN-CAMPBELL, D. Development with women. Oxford: Oxfam Publication.
LOMBARD, A. 2005. Social and economic development through Social Work. IUCISD International Symposium. 25-29 July 2005, 1-18.
LOMBARD, A. 2007. The impact of social welfare policies on social development in South Africa: an NGO perspective. Social Work/Maatskaplike Werk, 43(4):295-316.
LUEBKER, M. 2008a. Employment, unemployment and informality in Zimbabwe: concepts and data for coherent policy-making. SRO-Harare Issues Paper No.32/Integration Working Paper, No. 90. International Labour Office, Policy and Integration and Statistical Department. ILO Sub-Region Office for Southern Africa (SRO-Harare). Geneva. ILO.
LUEBKER, M. 2008b. Decent work and informal employment: a survey of workers in Glen View, Harare. SRO- Harare Issues Paper No.33/Integration Working Paper No.91. International Labour Office, Policy and Integration and Statistical Department. ILO Sub-Region Office for Southern Africa (SRO-Harare). Geneva. ILO.MEHRA, R. 1996. Women, empowerment and economic development. Annals of American Academy of Political and Social Science, 554:136-149.
MHONE, G.C.Z. [n.d.]. The impact of structural adjustment on the urban informal sector in Zimbabwe. Issues in Development Discussion Paper 2. Development and Technical Cooperation Department. International Labour Office. Geneva.
MIDGLEY, J. 1995. Social development. The developmental perspective in social welfare. London: Sage Publications.
MIDGLEY, J. 1999. Growth, redistribution and welfare: towards social investment. Social Service Review, (March):5-12.
MOFOKENG, C. 2005. The informal economy in Africa and its impact on women. Paper presented at the Symposium on Women’s Rights and the Role of Women in Africa. Canada. October 3 2005. [Online] Available: http://candianlabour.ca/updir/africanwomen.pdf [Accessed: 26/08/2009].
MUSIOLEK, B. 2002. Decent work in the informal sector. CEEICIS Regio.
NAFZIGER, E.W. 2006. Economic development (4th ed). Washington DC: Cambridge University Press.
OSIRIM, M.J. 2001. Making good on commitments to grassroots women: NGOs and empowerment for women in contemporary Zimbabwe. Women’s Studies International Forum, 24(2):167-180.
SEN, A. 2007. Unity and discord in social development. The 15th Symposium of The International Consortium for Social Development. Hong Kong. 16 July 2007.
SHAH, A. 2008. Poverty around the world. [Online] Available: http://www.globalissues. org/article/4/povert_around_the_world#TheWorldBankandPoverty. [Accessed: 22/09/2008].
SHINDER, L. 1998. Zimbabwe’s informal sector. Monthly Labor Review, 121. [Online] Available: http://www.equestia.com.googleScholar.qst?docId=5001341495. [Accessed: 07/08/2009].
SICHONE, O. 2003. Zimbabwe’s Economic Policies; 1980-2002. DPMN Bulletin, X(2):1-5.
SKALLI, L. H. 2001. Women and poverty in Morocco: the many faces of social exclusion. Feminist Review, 69:73-89.
STRYDOM, H. 2005. Sampling and sampling techniques. In: DE VOS, A.S. (ed) Research at grass roots for the social sciences and human sciences professions (3rd ed). Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers.
SZIRMAI, A. 2005. The dynamics of socio-economic development: an introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
TIBAIJUKA, A.K. 2005. Report of the fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe to assess the scope and impact of operation Murambatsvina by the UN Special Envoy on Human Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe. United Nations. 18 July 2005.
TRIPATHY, S.N. 2003. Women in informal sector. New Delhi: Discovery Publishing House.
UNITED NATIONS [UN]. 1995. Women in a changing global economy. New York: Department of Policy Co-ordination and Sustainable Development. UNDP ZIMBABWE. 2004. Zimbabwe millennium development goals. Progress Report. December 2004. [Online] Available: http://www.undp.org.zw/ProgressReport/Zimbabwe Millennium DevlopmentGoals. [Accessed: 22/09/2008].
UNITED NATIONAL INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S FUND (UNICEF). 2006. The State of the World’s Children 2007. Woman and children: the double dividend of gender equality. New York.
WORLD BANK. 2009. In Africa, “poverty has a female face.” [Online] Available: http://go.worldwide.org/HBLTTGNP00. [Accessed: 06/08/2009].
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This journal is an open access journal, and the authors and journal should be properly acknowledged when works are cited.
Authors may use the publishers version for teaching purposes, in books, and with conferences.
The following license applies:
Attribution CC BY-4.0
This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation.
Articles as a whole may not be re-published with another journal.
