Why Uganda’s women work hard, but earn less
A new study by the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), conducted with support from UN Women, paints a sobering picture of women's place in Uganda's labour market.
A woman working in a carpentry workshop. (File photo)
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For millions of Ugandan women, work begins long before sunrise. The day often starts with fetching water, preparing meals, tending crops, and caring for children and elderly relatives.
Yet despite carrying much of the country's productive and domestic workload, women remain less likely than men to secure stable, well-paying jobs.
A new study by the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), conducted with support from UN Women, paints a sobering picture of women's place in Uganda's labour market.
While women continue to make up a large share of the country's workforce, they are far more likely to work in insecure, low-paying and informal jobs, particularly in agriculture, where incomes are low and social protection is almost non-existent.
The report, Women in the Labour Force in Uganda, analysed data from the Uganda National Labour Force Surveys of 2016/17 and 2021 to understand how women's employment has changed and what continues to hold them back.
The most striking finding is that employment declined for everyone between 2016/17 and 2021, but women were hit harder than men.
Nationally, the employment-to-population ratio fell from 47.6% to 42.5% over the five-year period. Among women, employment dropped by six percentage points, from 39.8% to 33.8%, compared with a four-percentage-point decline among men, whose employment rate fell from 56.2% to 51.9%. The researchers attribute much of this decline to the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lockdowns, movement restrictions and the slowdown in business activity disrupted sectors where many women earn a living, particularly informal trade, small businesses and services. Unlike workers in formal employment, many women in these sectors had little financial protection when incomes disappeared almost overnight.
The pandemic also magnified another challenge that rarely appears in employment statistics: unpaid care work. School closures meant children stayed at home, increasing childcare responsibilities that already fall disproportionately on women. Many women had to reduce their working hours or leave income-generating activities altogether to care for their families.
Resonating with the report, Angella Asiimwe, a human rights lawyer who is also passionate about women's issues, says women are paid less because their labour remains invisible.
“Ugandan women work longer hours than men when both paid and unpaid work are considered. However, much of women’s labour remains invisible and undervalued,” she notes.
She highlights occupational segregation as one reason for women's lower earnings. “Women are concentrated in lower-paying sectors such as agriculture, domestic work, retail, hospitality, and informal trade, while men dominate higher-paying industries and leadership positions.”
Besides, Asiimwe says women are also more likely to work in the informal economy, where incomes are lower, employment protections are weak, and opportunities for career progression are limited.
She echoes the report on the unequal burden of unpaid care work. “Because women spend significant time caring for children, older persons, and managing households, they often accept part-time, flexible, or lower-paying jobs that allow them to balance family responsibilities,” she says.
The findings come at a time when Uganda is counting on rapid economic growth and industrialisation to create jobs. Yet the research suggests that unless women benefit equally from those opportunities, much of the country's economic potential will remain untapped.