UNEMPLOYMENT AND PRECARITY DURING COVID-19

The document highlights a severe unemployment crisis in South Africa, worsened by COVID-19, and argues that the government's response has been insufficient to protect the right to decent work. It emphasizes deep racial and gender inequalities in job losses and the vulnerability of informal and domestic workers who lack social protections like the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). The authors call for expanded income support, better labour law enforcement, and a legislative framework for the informal economy to meet international human rights standards.

• South Africa experienced a significant spike in unemployment during the second quarter of 2020, with an official expanded unemployment rate (EUR) of 42.3%. This crisis is marked by deep racial and gender disparities: the EUR for black/Africans was 46.3% compared to 14.3% for whites, and women faced a higher EUR (45.7%) than men (38.9%).
• Job losses during the early pandemic were disproportionately borne by women. The NIDS-CRAM survey estimated that approximately 3 million jobs were lost between February and April 2020, with two-thirds of those losses affecting women.
• A significant portion of the workforce lacks essential social protections. Only 61.4% of employed persons are covered by the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), and approximately one third of domestic workers are not registered. This leaves an estimated 15.1 million people (or 9.3 million households) living below R6,000 per month without eligibility for grants, UIF, or formal employment.
• Workers in the informal economy suffered severe income and hour reductions during lockdowns. Typical earnings for women in informal self-employment decreased by nearly 70% between February and April 2020, and the decline in hours worked was 49% for women compared to 25% for men.
• Compliance with health and safety regulations is low. In May 2020, the Department of Labour found that 60% of inspected businesses were non-compliant with the Occupational Health and Safety Act, with compliance dropping to 50% for government departments and state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
• The government's COVID-19 Temporary Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) is deemed inadequate because it only applies to formal employment, covers only 38% to 60% of a worker's salary (up to R6,730), and faced implementation delays due to capacity constraints and employer non-compliance with UIF regulations.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2020). UNEMPLOYMENT AND PRECARITY DURING COVID-19. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IEJfactsheet-Work-and-COVID19-1.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. UNEMPLOYMENT AND PRECARITY DURING COVID-19. 2020. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IEJfactsheet-Work-and-COVID19-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=UNEMPLOYMENT AND PRECARITY DURING COVID-19 |date=2020 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IEJfactsheet-Work-and-COVID19-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforeconomicjustice2020unemployment, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{UNEMPLOYMENT AND PRECARITY DURING COVID-19}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2020}, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IEJfactsheet-Work-and-COVID19-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }