A women scientist in Mexico // File Photo: Mexican Government

The number of women in the workforce in Latin America has risen 11 percent over the past 30 years, according to an Oct. 28 report from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the International Labor Organization. Despite the growing number of working women, the gap between women’s participation in the labor market versus men’s is about 25 percent, on average. Women’s earnings also average about 17 percent less than men’s, according to the report. What have been the main reasons behind the growing participation of women in Latin America’s workforce? Why do such large gaps in labor market participation and pay continue to persist? To what extent are government and private sector efforts to close those gaps working, and what more should be done?

Paula Tavares, senior legal and gender specialist at the World Bank: “A number of elements have contributed to growing female labor force participation in Latin America, including the removal of formal and informal barriers and the creation of an enabling environment for more equal access to opportunities. Countries in the region have, for example, undertaken legal reforms to eliminate specific job restrictions to women’s work in certain industries, equalize property rights and expand paid maternity leave for women. In addition, women have benefited from greater access to education, skills training and higher levels of average income. In particular, reduction in time constraints for women and higher schooling have been identified as key drivers in enabling access to opportunities. But while legal barriers to women’s work have been largely removed, persistent challenges remain. Occupational segregation and time constraints connected to unpaid care work and family responsibilities primarily undertaken by women often affect women’s carrier choices or opportunities. In addition, violence and sexual harassment can undermine women’s ability to work. Legislation on sexual harassment in employment is still lacking in approximately one-third of countries in the region. Overall, legislation and policy are moving in the right direction. Over the last 10 years, legal rights for women in the region increased by about four percentage points, according to the Women, Business and the Law 2019 index. Greater legal gender equality in turn is associated with higher female labor force participation. But more progress could be made in improving the legal environment, for example, through leave policies that enable women’s work, protection from violence and sexual harassment, and promoting women’s leadership.”

Andrea Ewart, CEO of DevelopTradeLaw and immediate past president of the Organization of Women for International Trade: “Improved access to tertiary education is one factor that explains the increased participation of women in the labor force across the very diverse Latin American and Caribbean region. Part of a global trend, the share of women with college education now exceeds that of men in several LAC economies, and this has been the case for some time in the English-speaking Caribbean. A 2015 report indicated that 10 of the top 19 countries with the highest ratio of women to men in higher education were in Latin America and the Caribbean. This growth has resulted from policies aimed at increasing access for low-income students and for women. Yet, to what extent does this development also reflect an increased lack of interest by young men in formal education? A second factor explaining increased participation rates by women in the labor force is the inclusion of informal work, where women tend to predominate. These two developments help to explain the continued wage gap and illustrate the need for continued exploration of this issue, particularly at the national level. Noticeably, the ECLAC report indicates that the own-account work of the gig economy is the fastest-growing area and will account for the bulk of new jobs. How will this affect women? Policies that will help women take advantage of these opportunities include access to credit and technology, increased spending on child support and other social support programs and establishment of business support organizations to provide mentorship and role models for women.”

Jana Nelson, global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars: “Strategically, in the 1980s, Brazil established protected indigenous lands that overlapped with rare earth mineral deposits. It served both to protect indigenous communities and to maintain a strategic reserve of rare earths. The Brazilian constitution requires that any changes to the legal protections of those lands be done in coordination with indigenous communities. President Bolsonaro’s legislation did not include input from the communities and, therefore, is unlikely to pass Congress as is. The economic advantages of access to these areas is evident. The disadvantages are not just displacement of communities and environmental destruction. Mining and exploration in the region, with little government oversight, could, and has in the past, resulted in labor rights violations, human trafficking of women to the region and environmental disasters arising from weak safety regulations. The benefits of potential economic growth do not outweigh the potential costs, as long as the Brazilian government is not able to regulate and oversee these areas and infrastructure.”

Christina Ewig, professor of public affairs and faculty director of the Center on Women, Gender and Public Policy at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota: “Economic crises of the late 1980s and early 1990s propelled women into Latin America’s labor force. Crises, coupled with job losses in traditionally male-dominated sectors such as industry and agriculture, signaled the male-breadwinner model was no longer a realistic family option. The result was some leveling of the economic playing field between women and men—but through downward, not upward, pressure. In Mexico and Central America, export-oriented assembly manufacturing specifically recruited women, while in the region as a whole, women now dominate low-paid service sector occupations. Women’s increased workforce participation means that the majority now have a source of autonomous income, which is key to economic and social empowerment. But progress is uneven among women, as the ECLAC report notes: 80 percent of highly educated women participate in the workforce, while participation of women with low educational levels hovers between 40 and 50 percent—essentially a class divide. Analysts have pointed out that a key factor behind the class disparity is the care gap. Men have not increased their contributions to housework or child care in the region as women have taken on paid work. This is a tenable situation for better-off women who can afford to purchase care services. But for others, hiring a nanny and housekeeper is not an option, and without it, work options are limited. Governments missed a critical opportunity during the economic boom years to invest in the care supports that could help them tap this large workforce of lower educated women—quality, affordable child care, for example. Meanwhile, traditional attitudes regarding gendered divisions of household labor remain a barrier.”

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