The Expanded Public Works Programme in the social sector

Valuing or de-valuing 'women's work'?

Join us for the presentation of new research, funded by the Heinrich Boell Foundation, on the gender dimension of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).

Against the background of growing inequality and high levels of poverty and unemployment, which disproportionately affect black women, the EPWP was instituted in 2004/5 to ‘alleviate’ joblessness with labour-intensive work opportunities. The beneficiaries of the programme’s short-term, low-paying jobs were to include 60% women, later reduced to 55%.

Unusually, the EPWP extends to the social sector, with an emphasis on care work. Does the inclusion of a sector in which women predominate contribute towards the eradication of gender inequality and iniquity in post-apartheid South Africa?

Join us to discuss the findings of three research papers exploring the gender division of labour in relation to the EPWP and work insecurity, focusing on:

Policy context of the EPWP over 20 years, by Prof Christi van der Westhuizen, Centre for Sexualities, AIDS & Gender, University of Pretoria
Post-rape services and the EPWP, by Lisa Vetten, Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER), University of Witwatersrand
Early childhood development in the EPWP, by Penny Parenzee, On Par Development Consultancy

The discussant is Prof Andries Bezuidenhout, Sociology, University of Pretoria.

Date: Friday 6 November 2015

Time: 9am to 1pm

Venue: Graduate Centre L1-64, Hatfield campus, University of Pretoria

Please RSVP to Shirley Damons at the Centre for Sexualities, AIDS & Gender on shirley.damons@up.ac.za

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