Follow Us on Google
By Glory Aiyegbeni
Nigeria’s population reached an estimated 232.7 million in 2024, with women and girls accounting for nearly half (49.4%) of the population. Across agriculture, trade, education, healthcare, retail, and entrepreneurship, women play a vital role in supporting households and driving economic activity. However, despite their significant contributions, many remain trapped in low-paying, insecure jobs with limited opportunities for career growth.
Findings from the Jobberman Young Nigeria Works (YNW) Phase 2 Baseline Study (2026) reveal that the challenge is no longer whether women are working, but whether they have access to dignified, productive and rewarding employment.
Labour Force Participation Does Not Equal Decent Work
Women’s labour market outcomes are shaped by longstanding structural barriers, including unequal access to finance, land, professional networks, and formal employment opportunities. Although educational attainment among women has improved, this has not translated into equal labour market outcomes.
The YNW Phase 2 Baseline Study found that women consistently earn less and occupy lower-quality jobs than men with similar qualifications. These findings are reinforced by Jobberman’s Technology and Employment Inclusion in Marginalised Contexts (2025) study, which showed that approximately 73% of women aged 18–35 in marginalised communities earn below Nigeria’s minimum wage of N70,000 per month, particularly those working in agriculture, education, and the digital and creative sectors.
This reflects a broader labour market reality. While unemployment rates have declined, most Nigerians work in informal or non-standard employment, including self-employment, family businesses, and micro-enterprises. Employment alone is therefore an inadequate measure of progress. The greater concern is job quality: whether work provides stable incomes, productivity, social protection, and opportunities for career advancement. For many women, employment continues to mean low earnings, irregular income, and limited economic security.
Self-Employment: Opportunity or Necessity?
The study found that self-employment has become increasingly common among Nigerian women. Compared with the 2020 YNW Phase 1 Baseline, the proportion of women relying primarily on self-employment rose significantly, reflecting the scarcity of formal wage employment.
For many women, entrepreneurship is a necessity rather than a choice, offering a means of survival when formal jobs are unavailable. These businesses often operate informally, generate low incomes, and remain vulnerable to economic shocks due to limited access to finance, markets, and business support.
However, the study also highlights a growing group of women, particularly in the South-East and South-West, who intentionally pursue entrepreneurship. Many are building businesses in fashion, beauty, media, design, and the broader creative economy because of the flexibility, independence, and long-term opportunities entrepreneurship provides.
Given Nigeria’s rapidly expanding workforce and limited capacity to create sufficient formal jobs, entrepreneurship will remain an essential source of employment. The priority should therefore shift towards strengthening
entrepreneurship ecosystems, improving access to finance and business development services, and helping women transition from subsistence businesses to productive enterprises.
Persistent Gender Earnings Gap
Other News
Women’s concentration in lower-paying sectors such as retail, education, healthcare, and other service industries contributes to a persistent gender earnings gap. While these sectors remain important sources of employment, they are often characterised by lower wages, higher informality, and fewer opportunities for career advancement.
Findings from the YNW Phase 2 Baseline Study reveal that nearly two-thirds of women surveyed earn below the national minimum wage of N70,000, compared with approximately one-third of men. In contrast, men are considerably more likely to earn above the minimum wage, despite the study reporting comparable levels of educational attainment between both groups. This suggests that differences in earnings are driven less by education than by structural barriers that influence women’s access to higher-paying occupations and career advancement opportunities.
The barriers include occupational segregation, discriminatory workplace practices, disproportionate unpaid caregiving responsibilities, and unequal access to professional networks, productive assets and high-growth industries. As a result, education remains necessary but is not sufficient to secure decent and well-paying employment.
Digital Inclusion as a Pathway to Better Jobs
The research also identifies digital technology as an important driver of women’s employment outcomes. Women who used online job platforms and digital tools during their job search were significantly more likely to secure improved employment opportunities, with more than half reporting that they used Jobberman during their employment journey.
Digital platforms increasingly connect jobseekers to employment opportunities, professional networks, skills development, remote work, and entrepreneurship. Yet access remains uneven. Jobberman’s Technology and Employment Inclusion in Marginalised Contexts Study (2025) found only half of women surveyed had internet access, while around 60% of women in Northern Nigeria lacked internet-enabled devices.
Limited digital access and low digital literacy continue to restrict women’s participation in the evolving labour market.
Moving Beyond Employment Numbers
Improving women’s employment outcomes represents one of Nigeria’s greatest opportunities for inclusive economic growth. Higher female earnings contribute to poverty reduction, improved household welfare, better educational outcomes for children, and stronger national productivity.
Recognising these realities, Jobberman’s Young Nigeria Works Programme combines labour market research with employability training, entrepreneurship support, digital literacy, career services, and employer engagement to improve women’s access to quality employment. By 2030, the programme aims to support 10 million young Nigerians, with women representing 70% of beneficiaries, in accessing dignified and fulfilling work.
Ultimately, Nigeria’s success should no longer be measured by the number of women participating in the labour market, but by whether that participation translates into secure incomes, productive careers, career mobility, and
sustainable livelihoods. Expanding access to decent work, not simply increasing employment, is essential to achieving meaningful economic empowerment for Nigerian women.
• Aiyegbeni writes from Lagos
