Books over babies : Women are breaking boundaries and defying social norms
More and more young women are choosing books over babies
Image: Freepik
By: Mendy Mtshali
The month of August is known and celebrated as Women’s Month. It offers women a chance to commemorate, celebrate and also evaluate how far they have come.
It also offers women a chance to see what still needs to be changed to ensure a safe and equal environment for all women.
Throughout the years, women have made progress in breaking barriers and challenging social norms.
According to a report by Statistics South Africa, the country's fertility rate has steadily declined.
This may imply the fact that more women are now choosing “books over babies”. Although much still needs to be done, stats show that women have made progress in sectors such as education and the labour market.
In recent years, there has been a change with tertiary education where more women are enrolled and graduating, in comparison to men.
According to Englesman Magabane Incorporated, 13.1% of women, from the age of 20, have attained tertiary education, which is slightly higher than the 12.3% for men.
Statistics released by the Department of Higher Education and Training revealed that women within the ages of 25-64 have a higher tertiary education attainment.
This shows that women have not only closed the gap in tertiary education, but they have also changed the pattern.
Women in South Africa are still facing challenges within the labor market, such as higher unemployment rate or low-paying jobs compared to men, however there has been some noticeable progress. According to Stats SA, there has been a 4.9% increase in the labour force participation between the years 2014 -2024.
The labour force participation rates rose from 50,9% in 2014, to 55,8% in 2024, signifying a reduction in the gender gap in labour force participation.
While there’s much that still needs to be addressed and evaluated in order to ensure an equal and safe environment for women, much noticeable progress has been made with more women breaking and challenging social norms.
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