Somali women's share of jobs across firm types

Somali women hold 70 percent of jobs in micro firms, the country's largest category of establishment at 48 percent of all firms surveyed. Their share falls to 45 percent in the informal sector and 28 percent in formal enterprises, showing that women's participation in wage work shrinks as firms grow.

Micro and informal businesses together employ more workers than the formal economy, but their jobs pay less and offer fewer protections.

The gradient between micro and formal mirrors the gradient in credit access, registration costs, and contract enforcement, which are concentrated in the segments where women already operate.

• women in work
• microbusinesses
• informal sector
• labour
• firm size