Mexico City.- Women who are married or in a free union are 21.5 percent less likely than a single woman to enter the labor market, warned a study prepared by the National Minimum Wage Commission (Conasami).
This is due to the unpaid and care work carried out by women in the Country.
For those women who share the home with children under 5 years of age, the probability of entering the labor market decreases 8.7 percent, compared to those who live in homes without children.
Considering that care may also be required for older adults, it is observed that, in households with at least one person over 70 years of age, the probability of women being in the labor market is 0.8 percent lower compared to males. households without older adults.
On the contrary, being the head of the household increases the probability of participating in the labor market by 9.9 percent, compared to those who are not.
“The results confirm the hypothesis that women, by engaging in unpaid work at home and caring for minors and the elderly, reduce their participation in the labor market, which can have a negative impact on their economic independence, years of work experience and the possibilities of continuing professional training,” said Conasami.
In his study, he also concluded that women living in an urban location are 15.6 percent more likely to be part of the labor force than those living in a rural location.
For the Commission, households should implement the distribution of unpaid domestic workloads and care among the different members of the household, as this would increase women’s participation in the paid labor market.
This would also help avoid double shifts for women who already have a job.
“Other actions that could help encourage women’s participation in the labor market are policies to reduce gender wage gaps (in different parts of the wage distribution).
“Eradicate the violence and labor discrimination they face and put an end to the segregation of the labor market, where women are more likely to enter highly feminized occupations and sectors,” warned the Commission.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) considers that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Latin America and the Caribbean could increase 4 percent if the participation gap between men and women were reduced by 25 percent.
