Women in the Gig Economy; More Opportunities?

The gig economy takes up major media conversations, yet gender issues are not rigorously examined. Data shows that women participate in and are active in the gig economy; their experiences and contributions consequently have an impact on the future of the global gig economy. According to data from the Online Labour Index, women make up about 39% of the workforce in the online gig economy. Since January 2021, the proportion of women working for Uber’s ride-sharing or delivery platforms has risen by almost 50%; women currently make up just under half of Uber Eats’ delivery staff. 58% of DoorDash’s delivery employees are women. Africa’s largest e-commerce platform, Jumia, recently revealed that 33% of all goods sold between 2019 and 2020 in terms of value were by women, who made up 51% of its platform’s vendors. The International Finance Corporation reports that women dominate the African e-commerce fashion market. In the spirit of celebrating International Women’s Day this week, this article throws light on the opportunities or benefits the gig economy presents women and also highlights some issues faced by women in this space.

Opportunities

Income

Women who are unemployed and in need of a source of income see gig work as a feasible alternative next to starting their own business. The World Bank reports that 58% of MSMEs in Africa are owned by women, and that these enterprises are 34% less profitable than those owned by males. Therefore, it is safe to assume that even women who own their own enterprises still have an income or profit gap to close; the gig economy offers a chance to do so. Recent graduates and early-career candidates can also use the gig economy as a launching pad for their careers. Women now have the choice to reenter the workforce in substantial ways like the gig economy, and they can make decent money to supplement their families’ incomes. Hence, a woman who is unemployed, seeking some form of stepping stone, or earning little from her own business might take advantage of the gig economy to become prosperous and financially independent.

Flexibility

Women are choosing gig work for many reasons, but flexibility is at the top of the list. 80% of women on DoorDash mentioned flexibility as their top motivation for doing the job and 60% said the flexibility allowed them to care for a kid or loved one. In comparison to 34% of men, 50% of women who deliver for UberEats claimed that working for ride-sharing or delivery platforms gave them the flexibility they could not get from a formal employment. In the African context, gender roles based on traditional beliefs suggest that married women should be more involved in domestic tasks, such as caring for their children. Despite the fact that there are more women in the workforce today, these attitudes still affect the way they go about their jobs. Women look for more flexible employment options because 9 to 5 positions offer little to no time flexibility, making it difficult for them to be present for their families. Therefore, gig work has increasingly become more appealing to the traditional African women because it allows them to balance the responsibilities of caring with the opportunity to grow their careers, or at the very least, maintain their knowledge and expertise.

Issues

Gig Work is Gendered

Women’s participation in the gig economy is typically influenced by a range of gendered traits, such as education levels, fertility rates, and marital status, in addition to socioeconomic constraints like urbanization and economic growth/cyclical effects. In the future of work where value of labour may be determined by the rate of technological adoption, women’s reduced participation may be due to the digital gender divide. This division can be seen in freelance and microwork as well as app-based work. In Africa, only two out of ten employees on online, web-based platforms are women, despite the fact that many women are embracing the gig economy. The World Bank claims that this is in part due to the fact that there are still more uneducated women than men on the continent. It is found that on average men earn approximately 7% more per hour than women in service verticals such as ridesharing where both women and men can occupy the labour market. This is due to limiting factors like location (male drivers may be more willing to offer rides in more “lucrative” areas where crime rates are high and safety risks are present) and accumulated experience that is frequently reflected in ride accepting strategies, user ratings, etc.

Insecurity

Despite the fact that the gig economy gives women additional options to earn money, the majority of female workers still face significant challenges in terms of social protection, physical safety, and inconsistent income. Due to the unpredictable nature of gig employment, it is challenging to predict and generate stable income. Women also do not enjoy the same rights, insurance, and benefits as traditional employees do in terms of social protection. Women’s safety is also a concern. According to a research of female ride-hailing drivers in South Africa, Mexico, Egypt, Indonesia, and the UK, the majority (57%) of them prefer not to operate their vehicles after dark out of security reasons. Security is the main deterrent to longer driving hours, according to 51% of female drivers in South Africa.

Conclusion

Gig work has the potential to provide women financial independence because it enables fair compensation and a better work-life balance than a traditional career path. Women are therefore a growing and important segment of the gig workforce — players and platforms in the gig economy will need to address several key drawbacks to allow for maximum participation of women in this space. Gigmile for instance, is a player in Africa’s gig economy space, and is setting up a solid infrastructure that absorbs these issues and enables women to thrive — Gigmile offers opportunities for upskilling in the training sessions it facilitates while onboarding clients onto gig platforms and addresses social insecurity by providing social protection offers such as health and life insurance along with assets to ensure that gig workers are resilient.