The survival strategies of unemployed rural women : a case study of Wooldridge

Women are internationally regarded as the main driving force for household survival, economic growth and the alleviation of poverty in rural areas (Kabeer 2003:118; Ross, Harper, MacDonald and MacDonald 2006:4). In South Africa, as in other developed and developing nations, women continue to make a significant and increasing contribution to household survival and economic activities. Economists and government agree that womenÀŸs access to economic opportunities, as well as returns on their efforts, play a critical role in alleviating poverty in rural areas (Barker 2007:187-188). The importance of rural women meeting the survival needs of their households and society, both economically and socially, cannot be overemphasised. Women in Wooldridge, a traditional rural village in the Amathole district of the Eastern Cape Province, meet their survival needs through transfer payments, remittances and some handicraft production (Dyubhele 2008). The continued genuine effort to address constraints that hinder and undermine the returns on womenÀŸs labour in rural areas is critical to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of reducing poverty and unemployment (Kabeer 2003:118).

Publisher: Nelson mandela Metropolitan University
Year of Publication: 2013
Download : 19494_noluntu_dissertation_(ed)_final_copy_march_doc.pdf