Women in Latin America and the Caribbean - Cepal

70
Table II.2
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: CONTRIBUTIONS TO NET JOB CREATION, 2004
(Percentages)
Contribution to non-agricultural employment
growth by branch of activity
Contribution to total employment growth by
occupational category
Total 100 Total 100
Manufacturing 24 Wage workers 67
Construction 6 Own-account workers 24
Commerce, restaurants and hotels 23 Domestic service 10
Basic services 5 Unpaid workers 0
Financial services, insurance, real estate and 13 Other occupational categories -1
business services
Social, community and personal services 34
Other branches of activity -5
Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Economic Survey of Latin America and the
Caribbean, 2004-2005 (LC/G.2279-P/E), Santiago, Chile, August 2005, United Nations publication, Sales No.
S.05.II.G.2, and official figures.
Domestic work is the main source of employment for the region’s women. Its treatment in
legislation and public policies is indicative of gender discrimination and, particularly, of the low value set
on what is considered to be women’s work.
Provision is made for paid domestic work or domestic service in almost all employment
legislation. On the grounds that this work possesses certain peculiarities associated with the demand for
care and social reproduction in households and families, however, there has been a tendency to regulate it
without regard for or recognition of the acquired rights accruing to most wage earners in other
occupational categories. This highlights the particular occupational vulnerability of the region’s poorest
women when they enter domestic employment, since exploitative working hours and pay are legitimized
in many labour codes.
Long working hours are among the openly discriminatory characteristics mentioned by the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Generally speaking, the
legal working day for those employed in domestic service can be as long as 12 hours. This implies a
working week of up to 72 hours for this group of workers, therefore, whereas in most of the situations
regulated by labour codes the maximum working week is 48 hours. The working hours of women
employed in private homes can be as much as 50% longer than those of other workers. In some countries,
such as Argentina, paid domestic workers are not only excluded from employment contract law, but any
administrative conflicts must be settled by a special mechanism separate from the labour tribunals. Some
Caribbean countries also have special legislation for domestic service, one example being Barbados,
where the Domestic Employees Act regulates minimum pay and the maximum working week.
In the light of reports from the governments of the region, the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women has warned on a number of occasions about the unsatisfactory situation of
women working in domestic service, who often earn less than the legal minimum wage and work more
than the maximum working week (Birgin, 2006).