Gender imbalance is a major contributor to Nigeria’s high unemployment rate. Women in Nigeria currently have a labor force participation rate of 48.4%, compared to men’s 59.9%. Nigeria has a nearly equal population of men and women, however men outnumber women. As a result, the gender pay gap continues to drive poverty.
Women account for 60% of the poorest individuals in Nigeria. Women account for 62 million of the 87 million individuals who live in extreme poverty. The COVID-19 epidemic, as well as structural and systemic constraints at the home and national levels, continue to stymie women and the country’s economic growth.
Nigeria must solve its poor economic growth through a female economy. A feminist economy prioritises well-being for economic growth and will enable the elimination of gender imbalances across all dimensions. Gender equality and feminism are seen as moral issues more than economic ones in Nigeria. Nonetheless, research, like the International Monetary Fund’s working paper on Gender Equality and Economic Growth, demonstrates that gender inequality and the marginalization of the female labor force have economic consequences.
To achieve a 23% increase in GDP by 2025, Nigeria will need to transition to a feminist economy. The government’s investment in gender equality supports long-term macroeconomic growth. When the government builds a female economy, the country’s total human capital development index improves. Another beneficial contribution of equality to the economy will be improved trade terms that include women’s participation. Gender-specific clauses in trade agreements can boost job creation by boosting the competitiveness of women-owned enterprises and allowing them to participate in regional and global trade.
The government must take gender-based violence, lack of education, girl child marriages, and female genital mutilation more seriously as concerns affecting women. Addressing these difficulties will result in a more impressive pool of educated female laborers. A gender-sensitive workforce must be accompanied by policies that promote gender equality in the labor market, because even a small percentage of educated female workers face marginalization, seclusion, unequal pay, and inability to access the same benefits as men.
Households must also play an important part in Nigeria’s transition to the feminist economy. Instead of spending hours caring for children, cooking, and cleaning, women should be compensated for their efforts. Care labor in Nigeria does not have to be unpaid. Care workers now have greater opportunities in the expanding labour sector as a result of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. With the care work sector expected to grow in demand, Nigeria may get ahead of the curve by developing new paid care employment opportunities for men and women alike. Care work policies should either lower the hours women spend on unpaid care labor by equal them to men’s, or abolish unpaid care by devising measures to integrate well-paying care jobs into Nigerian cultures.
The truth is that a society that ignores feminist economics will continue to prioritize the well-being of a small group of people while ignoring the socioeconomic realities of the marginalized in low-income communities. Women in low-income areas continue to engage in activities known as drudgery. Women bringing water and firewood to engage in constructive economic activity were common in an underdeveloped patriarchal environment. The government can ensure that essential facilities are given at the household level, hence eliminating unpaid care work.
A feminist economy will be a well-being economy that prioritizes the vision of economic growth for the benefit of humankind over numbers as a predictor of growth.
