{"id":5055,"date":"2025-06-19T22:57:48","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T22:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/"},"modified":"2025-06-20T03:19:55","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T03:19:55","slug":"an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"An Exploration and Description of the Impact of COVID-19 on Women&#8217;s Employment in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This article was originally published as: <strong>An Exploration and Description of the Impact of COVID-19 on Women&#8217;s Employment in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Original Article Link: <a href='https:\/\/journals.dut.ac.za\/index.php\/ajims\/article\/view\/1293' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Read Original Article<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Download PDF: <a href='https:\/\/journals.dut.ac.za\/index.php\/ajims\/article\/view\/1293\/962' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Click Here to Download PDF<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Abstract<\/h2>\n<p>The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the issue of gender inequality in the labour market in relation to greater risks of unemployment and financial vulnerability. The shift to remote work altered responsibilities for domestic labour among partnered couples and single parents, as did the impact of closed schools, childcare centres, and more. Disruptions to economic and social arrangements of South African women were no different than what other women in similar situations experienced in other countries. This study sought to explore the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on women, with respect to employment, work-life balance and family responsibilities. A qualitative study within a constructivist paradigm, with a multisite, instrumental case study design was used. Data were collected from participants using both a survey questionnaire and a structured interview. A sample size of 172 was sought for the questionnaire and 26 qualitative interviews were conducted, guided by data saturation. Quantitative questionnaire data were analysed using SPSS (version 27) for descriptive and inferential statistics. Thematic analysis of the qualitative interviews used NVIVO for coding and categorising. Black women, particularly from the informal sector, were found more adversely affected than those in formal employment by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study contributes to understanding the effects the COVID-19 pandemic had on women\u2019s employment, work-life balance and family responsibilities.<\/p>\n<h2>Authors<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Catharina Womack (Durban University of Technology, South Africa)<\/li>\n<li>Penny Orton (Durban University of Technology, South Africa)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Keywords<\/h2>\n<p>employment, work-life balance, family responsibilities, COVID-19, women<\/p>\n<h2>References<\/h2>\n<p>References not available for this article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article was originally published as: An Exploration and Description of the Impact of COVID-19 on Women&#8217;s Employment in KwaZulu&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124],"tags":[2153,1060,1623,1625,828,1624],"class_list":["post-5055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-ajims","tag-covid-19","tag-employment","tag-family-responsibilities","tag-women","tag-work-life-balance","wpcat-124-id"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>An Exploration and Description of the Impact of COVID-19 on Women&#039;s Employment in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa - IJSSASS Repository<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Exploration and Description of the Impact of COVID-19 on Women&#039;s Employment in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa - IJSSASS Repository\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article was originally published as: An Exploration and Description of the Impact of COVID-19 on Women&#8217;s Employment in KwaZulu...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IJSSASS Repository\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijssass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-19T22:57:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-20T03:19:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"195\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/adf9bae5731958270e2140cfc1af3771\"},\"headline\":\"An Exploration and Description of the Impact of COVID-19 on Women&#8217;s Employment in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-19T22:57:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-20T03:19:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/\"},\"wordCount\":302,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"ajims\",\"covid-19\",\"employment\",\"family responsibilities\",\"women\",\"work-life balance\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/\",\"name\":\"An Exploration and Description of the Impact of COVID-19 on Women's Employment in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa - IJSSASS Repository\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-19T22:57:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-20T03:19:55+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An Exploration and Description of the Impact of COVID-19 on Women&#8217;s Employment in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/\",\"name\":\"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES\",\"description\":\"Open Access Library\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"IJSSASS\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization\",\"name\":\"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES\",\"alternateName\":\"IJSSASS\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-3.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-3.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":195,\"caption\":\"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijssass\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/adf9bae5731958270e2140cfc1af3771\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2404e10f252fd74bce698fdfc0296b3cfb701b99d14951364bf9586aaa0c4a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2404e10f252fd74bce698fdfc0296b3cfb701b99d14951364bf9586aaa0c4a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An Exploration and Description of the Impact of COVID-19 on Women's Employment in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa - IJSSASS Repository","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An Exploration and Description of the Impact of COVID-19 on Women's Employment in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa - IJSSASS Repository","og_description":"This article was originally published as: An Exploration and Description of the Impact of COVID-19 on Women&#8217;s Employment in KwaZulu...","og_url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/","og_site_name":"IJSSASS Repository","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijssass","article_published_time":"2025-06-19T22:57:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-20T03:19:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":195,"url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-2.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/adf9bae5731958270e2140cfc1af3771"},"headline":"An Exploration and Description of the Impact of COVID-19 on Women&#8217;s Employment in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa","datePublished":"2025-06-19T22:57:48+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-20T03:19:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/"},"wordCount":302,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization"},"keywords":["ajims","covid-19","employment","family responsibilities","women","work-life balance"],"articleSection":["Articles"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/","url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/","name":"An Exploration and Description of the Impact of COVID-19 on Women's Employment in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa - IJSSASS Repository","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-06-19T22:57:48+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-20T03:19:55+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/an-exploration-and-description-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-employment-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"An Exploration and Description of the Impact of COVID-19 on Women&#8217;s Employment in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/","name":"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES","description":"Open Access Library","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization"},"alternateName":"IJSSASS","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization","name":"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES","alternateName":"IJSSASS","url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-3.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-3.png","width":300,"height":195,"caption":"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijssass"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/adf9bae5731958270e2140cfc1af3771","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2404e10f252fd74bce698fdfc0296b3cfb701b99d14951364bf9586aaa0c4a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2404e10f252fd74bce698fdfc0296b3cfb701b99d14951364bf9586aaa0c4a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal"],"url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5055"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5407,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5055\/revisions\/5407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}