It has been noted that ample infrastructure is a key component of productivity and economic growth,(2) particularly for developing countries. The implementation of adequate infrastructure would certainly go some way in helping these countries reach development targets like, for example, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s), as data such as those analysed by the World Bank, reveal that there is a very strong relationship between infrastructure and measures of growth and economic development.(3)

Unfortunately, in terms of development the African continent continues to lag behind other developing regions. Even in situations where there are clear, considerable improvements, many are still living in extreme poverty. Take Angola for instance. Its capital city, Luanda, recently lost the title of the most expensive capital in the world to Tokyo. Even though its economy grew an average of 17% annually between 2004 and 2008, the majority of its people are still very poor, with two-fifths undernourished, one in three adults illiterate, infant and maternal mortality rates amongst the highest in the world and life-expectancy amongst the lowest.(4) Fewer than 40% of Africans have access to electricity, approximately a third have access to proper roads and only 5% of potential commercial agriculture is irrigated.(5)

Poor infrastructure availability in Africa is proving to be a huge burden. According to Professor Mthuli Ncube, Chief Economist and Vice President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the productivity gap due to the lack of robust infrastructure is costing Africa up to 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) per year,(6) indicating that there is a mass underutilisation of resources that needs to be addressed if Africa as a whole is to come in line with the rest of the developing world. Conceptually, access to infrastructure allows deprived individuals and underdeveloped areas to create links to core economic activities, consequently increasing their productive opportunities.(7) This CAI paper analyses the relationship between female labour participation rates and the levels of infrastructure within a country or continent, discussing how improvements in infrastructure have the power to empower women and fully thrust them into the economic sphere.

Women and the lack of infrastructure

The necessity for ample supplies of well-constructed and maintained infrastructure is a subject with which many are familiar. However, the impact that improved access to infrastructure can have on the lives of women with specific regard to their participation in the wage-labour market, the focus of the remainder of this paper, is one that has not been explored extensively. Women have been thrust into the forefront of the development spectrum in the past few decades, and now with the targeted completion date of the MDG’s (2015) fast approaching, the issue of women’s roles in development has become ever more pressing.

It has been well documented that investments in women are more likely to result in greater improvements in the lives of children, in particular girls, than investments in men. Furthermore, several development goals, including that of the first MDG of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, are more likely to be achieved if women are the main focus of development programmes.(8) It is believed that gender equality stimulates economic development (9) and that its lack of prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa, in particular with respect to education and formal sector employment, continues to be a noteworthy constraint to economic growth on the continent.(10) Women lack adequate access to many important services in their everyday lives, including access to credit and infrastructure, often inhibiting them from fully engaging in economic activity and contributing significantly to the economy. The key question here is, to what extent does a lack of infrastructure act as a constraint on female labour participation rates? That is to say, how does access to infrastructure - or the lack thereof - affect a woman’s decision to enter the labour force?

Unlocking the time poverty trap: Infrastructure and women’s time allocation choices

“[In Africa] we see women carrying products from the farm on their head...Now imagine the acceleration of productivity if they did not have to carry these heavy loads on their heads, if they had the necessary infrastructure with which to make agriculture truly work for African society. Every time we see a women incapacitated by the vulnerability of infrastructure, they are foregoing very important activities that they should otherwise be applying themselves to, like going to school or income earning activities that would improve their lives and those of their families.” (Obiageli K. Ezekwesili, World Bank, 2008) (11)

This poignant statement succinctly summarises the plight of women, not only in Africa, but in many developing regions of the world. The lack of basic infrastructure acts as a hindrance for women to better themselves, whether it be to further educate themselves, to engage in income-generating activities, or to have more time to spend rearing healthy, more educated children. Almost everywhere in the developing world women are trapped in highly time consuming activities such as collecting water and firewood, for which they hold primary responsibility.(12)

A study undertaken by the United Nations found that, based on data from 18 African countries, women are five times more likely to collect drinking water than men.(13) Costa et al.,(14) in their study of women in rural Ghana and the impact of increased access to a water supply, found that unpaid activities, such as the collection of firewood and other domestic chores, are intensive in women’s time whereas remunerated activities are intensive in men’s time. Approximately 82.8% of men have no involvement in the fetching of water, and approximately 14.5% spend between zero and five hours per week on this task. In contrast, 66% of Ghanaian women fetch water, spending up to 15 hours a week on the task. The total work time for women, for both domestic work and market activity, is far higher for women than men, with 19.3% of women spending more than 112 hours a week in total working, with less than 2% of men dedicating the same amount of time to these essential tasks.(14) This situation has obvious implications for the time left in order to potentially carry out paid work (15).

It is social norms that dictate household divisions of labour and the disproportionate burden of household chores on women is exacerbated by a lack of basic infrastructure. Another World Bank study advocates that one way to combat inequality in the division of labour within the household is to support initiatives that would reduce the amount of time spent on unpaid work via improved water and sanitation services, rural electrification and enhanced transport infrastructure.(16) The huge constraint imposed by time-consuming domestic activities stops women from being able to allocate their time efficiently and productively. Domestic chores thus represent a significant amount of time that could otherwise be used on remunerated activities, the raising of children and caring for elderly members of the family, the pursuit of further educational attainment, improved health or even leisure.(17) Infrastructure development has the potential to thrust women more than proportionately into the economic sphere. Of course infrastructure development will help all, men, women and children alike, but the impact it has on women has the potential to translate into greater benefits for all those around them.

The time that has to be dedicated to unpaid work reduces the opportunity for and productivity of potential paid work and, as measures of female labour participation rates do not discriminate between paid and unpaid work, the true burden that falls onto the shoulders of women in the developing world is large and often downplayed. If these time constraints were lifted, the time gained could be used to increase women’s involvement in remunerated activities. The key point about the gender dimension of infrastructure is women’s time allocation; how improvements in access affect the time allocation choices of women and the decisions they then make about where to channel the extra time gained from these improvements.

Infrastructure and female labour participation

In a study investigating the trade-off between domestic chores and market employment in the time allocation choices of rural Ghanaian women, Costa et al.(18) found that female engagement in market activities increases significantly when electricity infrastructure is provided, especially for women who are already involved in market-orientated activities. However, they also found that those who were provided with water infrastructure did not necessarily devote the time saved to market-orientated activities even though the total work burden for these women was significantly reduced. The same results were exhibited by Lokshin and Yemtsov (19) in a study conducted in rural Georgia, where water supply improvements did not lead to a significant increase in wage employment. Ilahi and Grimard (20) found that poor access to water in rural Pakistan diminishes the time that women allocate to market-oriented activities and increases their total workload and thus, when provided with adequate infrastructure, total workload diminishes and more time is allocated to income-generating activities.

Evidence from studies like the aforementioned suggests that simply implementing improvements to infrastructure and access to it, may not necessarily lead to increases in women’s remunerated activities. There have been ample studies attesting to the belief that female labour participation rates (FLPR) exhibit a U-shaped relationship when tested against GDP per capita and education levels. That is, in low-income countries there are high female labour participation rates, in middle-income countries there is low female participation and in high-income countries there are high levels of participation again.(21) As an example, FLPR averaged over the years 2005-2009 in Uganda, a low-income country was approximately 80%; in Nicaragua, a middle income country, approximately 48% and the in the United Kingdom, a high-income country, approximately 69%.(22)

A similar theoretical approach can be applied to female labour participation rates and infrastructure levels. It could be argued that, up to a certain level of basic infrastructure, female labour participation may decline as the benefits accumulated are directed mainly within the household. In developing countries, especially low-income countries, women not only spend several hours a day on domestic chores (as documented earlier), but also spend a considerable amount of time working in family enterprises. Improvements in infrastructure would therefore help these women reduce the time burden of their domestic and subsistence work but potentially allow female labour participation to fall as large efficiency gains are made.

This negative correlation between female wage labour participation and improvements in access to infrastructure can be explained by the allocation of time preferences being somewhat uneven rather than continuous. Fairly small amounts of time saved may not be able to be transferred into increased time spent on remunerated activities. Unless there is a reasonably large reduction in the time allocated to household chores, households are more likely to direct the time saved to activities other than market work (the devotion of, say, an extra half hour a week to market activities may not prove to be worthwhile and the time will thus be spent on other activities). As the level of infrastructure continues to improve, women can use the time further saved to better educate themselves and gain the skills necessary to return to the labour market. Depending on the opportunities available for women outside of the home, and whether the opportunity cost of women joining the labour force is low, an increase in access to sufficient infrastructure could eventually lead to an increase in female labour participation.

The discontinuity between improved access to infrastructure and female labour participation associated with time gains in middle-income countries may suggest that middle-income countries are yet to reach the stage where s improvements in access to infrastructure are sufficient enough to lead to enough time saved on domestic work to lead to higher female participation rates. High-income countries can then be said to be in a position where access to infrastructure is high enough to encourage women to re-join the paid labour market. Of course there are other factors such as social stigma and religion that affect female labour participation rates but this pattern is generally exhibited.(23) Using a sample of 165 low-, middle- and high-income countries, Baah (24) was able to prove quantitatively, through the use of econometric analysis, that female labour participation rates are affected in much the same way as infrastructure levels with regards to energy (specifically electricity) and road access, as they are with GDP per capita and education levels. That is to say that the U-shaped curve is exhibited and that female labour participation rates are likely to eventually increase in the long term with an increase in access to infrastructure.

The belief that increased female labour participation in market-oriented activities generates favourable development outcomes is widely held (25) and if developing countries, especially those in the low-income bracket, are to develop in line with the rest of the advancing and developed world, female labour participation in market activities is a necessity for both economic and equity reasons. At the moment, the highest levels of female labour participation rates exhibited in the majority of the low-income, developing world are in the agricultural sector and other low-paid jobs. In low-income countries women continue to face serious handicaps in their attempt to acquire the necessary skills and educational levels to exploit the market place, and are thus often held back in low-paid, strenuous jobs.

Coulombe and Trembley (26) found that in today’s industrialised society, human capital investment in women is far more important for growth than investment in men. Investments in human capital and access to infrastructure would go some way in improving women’s choices and, as a result, their opportunities and well being. It is thus necessary to increase the awareness of all on the African continent that infrastructure development, not only in the physical sense, but also in the human capital sense, is crucial for its continued development.

Concluding remarks

It could be argued that poor infrastructure acts as one of the potential economic constraints facing women’s labour supply and that women’s full integration into the economy is a desirable aspiration both for equity and efficiency reasons. Economic development is sure to be achieved at a greater pace if women are able to contribute significantly to the economy. If a policy aim is to eventually reach the upward turning portion of the U-shaped female participation rate, a number of things must be implemented, including investments in infrastructure networks and education. Of course, other factors, such as attitudes towards women working in wage labour are country specific elements that policy would find difficult to change.

Evidently, improvements with respect to infrastructure are likely to cause an initial reduction in female labour participation, but the longer term benefits of improvements must be kept in mind. Eventually, these improvements will not only be felt by women and children, but by communities and countries as a whole.

However, it would be rather naive to suggest that improvements in infrastructure alone would eventually promote economic development and female participation rates. Infrastructure, increased female education levels and greater opportunities for women are a few of many pre-requisites necessary to truly integrate women into the wage labour market. Women, in their own right, must be the focus and eventually, the merciless cycle of deprivation can be broken. Implementation of infrastructure must be accompanied by policies that encourage women to engage in income-generating activities, including education, training and extra benefits such as child care facilities. Furthermore, it has been well documented that the essential ingredients for economic growth are unique to each individual country and that certain diagnostics need to be examined before true economic growth can be achieved.(27) Thus, further investigation must take into account the unique characteristics of each individual country as the relationship between female labour participation is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon.

Written by Belinda Baah ⁽¹⁾

NOTES:

(1) Contact Belinda Baah through CAI’s Industry and Business unit ( industry.business@consultancyafrica.com ).
(2) Servén, L. and Caldéron, C. , ‘The Effect of Infrastructure Development on Growth and Income Distribution’, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series 3400, September 2004, http://econ.worldbank.org.
(3) Canning, D., 1998. A database of world stocks of infrastructure, 1950-1995. The World Bank Economic Review, 12(3), pp. 529-547.
(4) ‘Boom Boom – The Oil Money Starts to Trickle Down’, The Economist, 30 June 2012, http://www.economist.com.
(5) Kaberuka, D., 2011. ‘Boosting infrastructure investments in Africa. World Economics, 2(2), pp. 7-24.
(6) ‘Infrastructure Funds Gap Losing Africa 3 pct of GDP’, Reuters Africa, 19 July 2011, http://af.reuters.com.
(7) Estache, A., ‘On Latin America’s Infrastructure Privatisation and its Distributional Effects’, The World Bank and ECARES, 30 April 2003.
(8) Ilahi, N. and Grimard, F., 2000. Public infrastructure and private costs: Water supply and time allocation of women in rural Pakistan. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 49(1), pp. 45-75.
(9) Goldin, C., 1995. “The U-shaped labour force function in economic development and economic history”, in Schultz, T.P. (ed). Investment in women’s human capital (2nd edition). University of Chicago Press: Chicago.
(10) Blackden, C., et al., ‘Gender and Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Issues and Evidence’, Research Paper No. 2006/37, UNU-Wider, 2006.
(11) Ezekwesili, O.K., ‘World Bank, opening remarks at conference on ‘The Role of Infrastructure in Women’s Economic Empowerment’, Japan, 28 – 30 May 2008.
(12) Koolwal, G. and Van de Walle, D., ‘Access to Water, Women’s Work and Child Outcomes’, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper series 5302, May 2010, http://www-wds.worldbank.org.
(13) ‘Progress on drinking water and sanitation: Special focus on sanitation’ UNICEF and the World Health Organisation, 2008, http://www.who.int.
(14) Costa, J., et al., ‘Water Supply in Rural Ghana: Do Women Benefit?’ International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth, One Pager no. 101, December 2009, http://www.ipc-undp.org.
(15) Agénor, P. and Agénor, M., 2009. ‘Infrastructure, Women’s Time Allocation, & Economic Growth’, The University of Manchester Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research discussion paper series 116.
(16) Ilahi, N. and Grimard, F., 2000. Public infrastructure and private costs: Water supply and time allocation of women in rural Pakistan. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 49(1), pp. 45-75.
(17) Agénor, P. and Agénor, M., 2009. ‘Infrastructure, Women’s Time Allocation, & Economic Growth’, The University of Manchester Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research discussion paper series 116.
(18) Cost, J., et al., ‘The Implications of Water and Electricity Supply for the Time Allocation of Women in Rural Ghana’, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth, working paper no. 29, December 2009, http://www.ipc-undp.org.
(19) Lokshin, M. and Yemtsov, R., 2005. Has rural infrastructure rehabilitation in Georgia helped the poor? The World Bank Economic Review, 19(2), pp. 311-333.
(20) Ilahi, N. and Grimard, F., 2000. Public infrastructure and private costs: Water supply and time allocation of women in rural Pakistan’, Economic Development and Cultural Change, 49(1), pp. 45-75.
(21) See: Boserup, E., 1970. Woman’s role in economic development. Earthscan Publication: Great Britain; Fatima, A. and Sultana, H., 2009. Tracing out the U-Shape relationship between female labour force participation rate and economic development in Pakistan. International Journal of Social Economics, 36, pp. 182-198; Goldin, C. , 1995. “The U-Shaped labour force function in economic development and economic history”, in Schultz, T.P. (ed). Investment In women’s human capital (2md edition). University of Chicago Press: Chicago; Lincove, J. A., 2008. Growth, girls’ education and female labour: A longitudinal analysis. The Journal of Developing Areas, 41(2), pp. 45-68; Psacharopoulos, G. and Tzannatos, Z., ‘Education and Female Labour Force Participation’, paper presented at the World Congress of Comparative Education, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 6 – 10 July 1987; Tam, H., 2011. U-Shaped female labour participation with economic development: Some panel data evidence. Economics Letters, 110, pp. 140-142.
(22) Calculated using Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM) software available on the International Labour Organisation website, http://www.ilo.org.
(23) As (21).
(24) Baah, B., Women’s Labour Supply and Economic Growth:’ University of Manchester.
(25) Koolwal, G. and Van de Walle, D., Access to Water, Women’s Work and Child Outcomes’, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, 5302, May 2010, http://www-wds.worldbank.org .
(26) Coulombe, S. and Tremblay, J.-F., 2006. Literacy and growth. Topics in Macroeconomics, 6 (2), pp. 1-34.
(27) Hausmann, R., Rodrik, D. and Velasco, A., 2005. ‘Growth Diagnostics’, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.