Zambia Demographic and Health Survey 2001-2002 - Measure DHS

non-agricultural occupations, since all of the employmentvariables shown in the table are stronglyinfluenced by the sector in which a woman is employed.According to the data in Table 3.10, mostwomen engaged in agricultural work are selfemployed(78 percent), work seasonally or part ofthe year (82 percent) and receive no payment fortheir work (63 percent). Table 3.10 further showsthat a majority of women in non-agricultural activitiesearn cash only (81 percent), 63 percent workfor themselves, and 59 percent work throughout theyear.3.6.4 Control over Women’s Earnings andContribution to HouseholdExpendituresIn the 2001-2002 ZDHS, employed womenwho earn cash were asked about who the main decision-makeris with regard to the use of their earnings.Further, they were asked about the proportionof household expenditures met by their earnings.Their answers to these questions provide some insightinto the extent to which women have autonomyover their earnings and the relative importanceof women’s earnings. The latter information alsohas implications for the empowerment of women. Itis expected that employment and earnings are morelikely to empower women if they perceive theirearnings as important for meeting the needs of theirhousehold.Table 3.10 Employment characteristics: womenPercent distribution of women employed in the 12 months precedingthe survey by type of earnings, type of employer, and continuityof employment, according to type of employment (agriculturalor non-agricultural), Zambia 2001-2002–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Non-Agri- agriculturalculturalEmployment characteristic work work Total–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Type of earningsCash only 18.7 81.3 47.7Cash and in-kind 16.0 4.4 10.6In-kind only 2.2 1.1 1.7Not paid 63.1 13.2 40.0Total 100.0 100.0 100.0Type of employerEmployed by family member 20.0 7.2 14.1Employed by nonfamily member 2.1 29.5 14.8Self-employed 77.8 63.2 71.1Missing 0.0 0.1 0.1Total 100.0 100.0 100.0Continuity of employmentThroughout the year 16.0 59.3 35.8Seasonal/part of year 81.7 20.3 53.3Once in a while 2.3 20.3 10.8Missing 0.0 0.1 0.1Total 100.0 100.0 100.0Number of women 2,354 2,003 4,384––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Note: Total includes 27 women with missing information on typeof employment who are not shown separatelyTable 3.11 shows the percent distribution of 2001-2002 ZDHS respondents who earn cash for thework they do by the degree of control over the use of their earnings and the extent to which their earningsmeet household expenditures. Almost six out of ten women decide by themselves how their earnings areto be spent. Close to one in every four working women said that the decisions are made jointly withsomeone else, whereas one in five reported that this decision is fully made by someone else.Independent decision-making by women is more pronounced in urban (72 percent) than rural areas(39 percent) and notably increases with age: 49 percent of women age 15-19 compared with 59 percentof women age 45-49. Education has an impact on decision-making of women on the use of theirearnings: 38 percent of women with no education decide independently on how earnings are to be usedcompared with 64 percent of women with higher education. In rural areas, decisions on the use ofwomen’s earnings are almost equally divided, with more than one-third made by the woman herself(39 percent), one-third made jointly (29 percent), and one-third by someone else (31 percent). At the provinciallevel, the highest proportions of women who decide for themselves how their earnings are spentare in Lusaka (77 percent) and Copperbelt (65 percent) and the lowest are in North-Western and Northern(35 percent each).Regarding the use of women’s earnings, Table 3.11 shows that a similar proportion of women reportedthat their earnings constitute “less than half” (39 percent) and “half or more” (38 percent) ofhousehold expenditures. Almost one in five women who work for cash say their earnings provide theentire household expenditure.Characteristics of Respondents │ 39