Employmentweb_low

labour Markets and welfare states: a country perspective
wages. The minimum wage applies to all cases, including old age pensions
which are also incremented each year.
female participation in the workforce has risen, however several
studies (acevedo, 2005; Iranzo & richter, 2002) have shown that women
find it more difficult to get work and that on average they receive lower
wages than men (figures from 2002 suggest their wages are as much as
30% lower in the private sector).
The social security system guarantees workers' rights, as well as
complete health coverage and benefits for maternity, old age, subsistence,
illness, accident, handicap, death, retirement and forced unemployment.
The system is administrated by the Venezuelan social securities Institute,
whose beneficiary population has risen from 34 per cent in 1999 to 54.9 per
cent in 2005 (from 21.5% to 30.6% in the economically active population).
Between 1999 and 2006 the number of unions registered by the ministry
of labour rose from 208 per year in 1999 to 662 in 2006. a total of 5,292 new
organisations had been registered by march 2007, including federations,
confederations and professional associations. By 2006 the number of
workers covered by general wage agreements reached 3,784,619.
The most important advances in worker protection are being
incorporated into the Constitution and into laws. There are considerable
differences with previous regulations, with the new laws being more
universal and covering all population groups, which consequently increases
the complexity of the system (alvarado, 2005). public expenditure on social
security, as a percentage of the gDp, rose from 1.99 per cent in 1999 to 3.59
per cent in 2006, according to the sistema de Indicadores sociales.
The current Venezuelan approach to worker health goes beyond the
traditional focus on physical risks to incorporate active participation in
evaluation of and follow-up on health and safety, with an integrated outlook
that considers the workplace a place for physical and mental health, for
learning and personal development. a strengthened Institute for
occupational Health and safety is leading to improvements in reporting and
registration of problems as well as in appropriate actions to remedy them.
The government is pursuing a policy aimed at sustained recovery of
purchasing power which includes progressive improvements in wages and
control of inflation, and is currently in the process of developing a model of
economic production which generates good, stable jobs. During 2006 the gDp
grew by 10.3 per cent, a sustained economic growth that held over thirteen
consecutive quarters, with an average of 12.9 per cent (Banco Central de
Venezuela, 2007). This is in accordance with Economic Commission for latin
america and the Caribbean [EClaC] estimates (2006), which had predicted
that growth in argentina and Venezuela would exceed 6 per cent. social
expenditures have risen from 9.45 per cent of the gDp in 1999 to 13.63 per
cent in 2006.
89