First modification: 11/02/2021 – 03:52
–
The United Nations body estimates that, at the end of 2020, around 118 million Latin American women were in a situation of poverty, 23 million more than in 2019.
The unemployment rate for women has historically been higher than that of men in Latin America. But the situation worsened with the pandemic, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.
In its most recent report, the agency indicated that the female unemployment rate in the region was 12% in 2020. In that year, “there was a resounding departure of women from the labor force, who, because they had to attend to the demands for care in their homes, did not resume their search for employment.”
––
Meanwhile, the levels of labor participation of women in Latin America fell dramatically in the same period, to 46%, compared to 69% of male participation. This rate measures the percentage of the population of working age (both employed and unemployed).
This result implied, according to ECLAC, that 23 million Latin American women entered a situation of poverty in 2020, to close the year at 118 million.
According to the document, 56.9% of women in Latin America are employed in sectors in which a greater negative effect is expected in terms of employment and income due to the pandemic.
“Paid domestic work, for example, which is characterized by high precariousness and the impossibility of being carried out remotely,” said Alicia Bárcena, ECLAC’s executive secretary.
In 2019, prior to the pandemic, 11.1% of employed women were engaged in paid domestic work, but after the crisis, employment levels in the sector fell by 24.7% in Brazil, by 46.3% in Chile, 44.4% in Colombia, 45.5% in Costa Rica, 33.2% in Mexico and 15.5% in Paraguay.
With EFE
– .
