Socio-economic demography of waste workers on Lagos dumpsites: analysis of gender differences

摘要

This paper examines the socioeconomic activities of solid waste workers at five dump sites in Lagos,Nigeria. It draws on doctoral fieldwork which adopts a feminist approach using the mixed methods ofparticipant observation, questionnaire survey and interviews. The survey included questions on age,gender, education, marital status, and years on the job, ethnicity, working hours, income, and familydata, such as number of children and other family income earners. The findings revealed the impact ofgender on livelihood strategies. Age, marital status, religion, ethnic origin, working hours and incomeare some of the characteristics which were found to differ by gender among waste workers. In terms ofearning capacity, the average mean income of all the workers was greater than the minimum wage as atthe time of the study. This paper calls for an inclusive policy design which integrates the informal wastesector, bridges gender differences and also promotes sustainable development.