Labour market incorporation of immigrant women in South Africa: Impacts of human capital and family structure

Abstract

This paper examines the labour market incorporation of African-born immigrant women in South Africa using data from the 2011 Census. It investigates women’s labour force participation, employment prospects, and access to formal employment, assessing how human capital and household factors explain labour market decisions. Results underscore significant challenges to immigrant incorporation in South Africa. Not only are immigrants less likely to participate in the labour force than black South African women, but for those who participate, employment levels are lower. Although immigrants have an employment edge over South Africans once individual and household factors are held constant, immigrants are over-represented in informal jobs. Returns to human capital are also lower among foreign- than South-African–born women. Together, these results suggest a segmented pattern of incorporation for immigrant women in South Africa. Results by national origin emphasize the importance of egalitarianism and co-ethnic community characteristics in structuring women’s labour force participation.