Were men or women more likely to lose a job during South Africa’s Covid-19 lockdown?
The release of South Africa’s official unemployment numbers for the second quarter of 2020 (April to June) has been delayed.
According to an analysis of National Income Dynamics Study – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey data, women accounted for the bulk of net job losses. This is “because women were more likely than men to have lost a job and less likely than men to have gained a job, overall” between February and April.
The results are based on telephonic interviews with about 7,000 respondents aged 18 and older.
The analysis found that “30% of women who were employed in February were no longer employed in April, compared to 20% of men” and that “7% of women who were not employed in February were employed in April, compared to 16% of men”.
