Last month the UN called on the private sector in Latin America to promote gender equality. This is because, according to the newspaper El Observador, 60% of women in the region work informally. In addition, the same media reports that the wage gap between men and women in the region is 22%.
As a result of these data, the global institute McKinsey affirmed that if global gender equality were reached in the markets, the countries of the region would increase their GDP by up to 26% by 2025. However, according to the International Labour Organization, “during the last year, when the slow-growing swell or in some cases of frank economic contraction that hit the region impacted the labor market, leading to an abrupt rise in unemployment and also the deterioration of some indicators of the quality of employment , it was evident that the situation affected women more. “
The organization also noted that some 17 million women carry out domestic work. There are more than 90% of the people dedicated to this activity. In this occupation, levels of informality are still too high, around 70%.
Additionally, according to the last report “Economic Perspectives of Latin America 2017” presented by the Casa de América in Madrid, informality in women’s work is caused, in large part because there are certainly also social and cultural factors at play, negative macroeconomic perspectives and lack of access to training programs.
An initiative that helps balance the situation
“In the last 15 years we have seen the greater incorporation of women into the labor market, compared to other regions of the world, but they joined precariously, the majority in the informal sector, earning less,” said Luisa Carvalho, regional director of UN Women for Latin America and the Caribbean.