Women and Globalisation Employers also escape paying higher wages to cover the cost of a family through the patriar­chal capitalist system which ensures that child­care and domestic labour remain a private re­sponsibility which is unpaid and unrecognised. Although reproductive labour is largely unpaid it is actually very costly- costs which fall pri­marily on women. There are several aspects of GEAR that will increase these costs associated with reproductive labour. For example, high interest rates raise the costs of credit-financed purchases, particularly housing, thus squeezing household resources which leaves less money over for the costs of reproductive labour. Fur­thermore, cutbacks in state expenditure on so­cial welfare and services clearly lead to poor families having to bear additional costs of liv­ing. Thus, for example the limited availability of government resources as a result of GEAR's budget deficit targets means that women will continue to perform additional labour fetching wood and water as a result of not having access to water and electricity. Informal Sector Women make up a disproportionate number of people who work in the informal sector. In South Africa, over 70% of workers in the in­formal sector are women'. The informal sector is characterised by high risk, unstable employ­ment, low pay, a lack of regulation, and poor levels of organisation. Furthermore, women have little or no access to education, training, and financial resources. Despite the importance of the informal econ­omy for women, GEAR says little about this sector. While GEAR engages in highly techni­cal exercises to develop economic models on the formal sector of the economy, there is no at­tempt to rigorously analyse the impact of its policies on the informal sector. The GEAR framework, by contributing to the invisibility 6 October Household Survey 1995. It should be noted that it i s difficult to obtain accurate statistics on the informal sec­tor, and this percentage includes domestic workers. of this sector, contributes to the economic op­pression of women. One of GEAR's main pillars is job creation. If women in the informal sector can find well­paying jobs in the formal sector, their welfare could be improved. GEAR's employment crea­tion record, however, has been a complete dis­aster. In 1996 and 1997, jobs have actually dis­appeared from the formal sector of the economy. The elimination of jobs from the formal sector will tend to push more women into the infor­mal sector, increasing the level of competition and economic risk as the ranks of those infor­mally employed swells. The formal sector Women are marginalised in the formal labour market. They face wage discrimination, receiv­ing lower pay than men for equivalent work. Women also face substantial labour market seg­mentation, meaning they are often confined to jobs that are lower-paying, less secure, and characterised by poor working conditions. Fi­nally, the rate of unemployment is far higher for women. While the over-all level of unem­ployment in South Africa is estimated to be 29%, the unemployment rate for women is 38% and 22% for men, and over 50% of African women are unemployed. The GEAR policy is gender-blind, and it will have a gendered impact due to the disadvantaged structural position of women in the economy. GEAR's export-oriented focus will lead to an emphasis on sectors where men predominate. Trade policies and tariff reductions have nega­tively affected the clothing and textile industry, where women predominate. GEAR promised to create jobs, but has in fact led to jobless growth - this has a particular impact on women, who face a higher rate of unemployment. GEAR ar­gues for labour market flexibility, this will af­fect women particularly because of their vul­nerable position in the labour market. Further­more, cutbacks in public sector employment will mean massive job losses for women. 13