Women in Latin America and the Caribbean - Cepal

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75 sex and activity (see figure II.2). The gaps between men and women, particularly in the area of domestic work, make it safe to say that the region’s society is unequal in numerous respects. More privileged women do not achieve equality with men of the same educational level; they are discriminated against even as, like them, they enjoy the benefits of income concentration, access to the labour market and protection of their rights. At the other extreme, paid domestic workers do not thus benefit indirectly from the work of their husbands or partners (when they have them), men who are poor like them but without necessarily being equitable. The situation of women employed in private homes for little pay is thus a prism revealing many of the inequalities that fracture society. F. WHO ARE THE WOMEN DESCRIBING THEMSELVES AS DOMESTIC WORKERS, AND WHAT ARE THEY LIKE “DOUBLY DOMESTIC” OR DOUBLE-SHIFT CARERS Women’s education levels have increased significantly in recent decades. Whereas in 2005, 35% of the urban female population aged 15 and over had 6 years of schooling or less, fully 56% of women working in domestic service had not completed primary education. In addition, 50% of “housewives” also had six years of education or less. This shows that lack of education among women is a decisive factor in reproducing the current pattern of care work. This link between lack of education and caregiving can be accounted for by the fact that domestic work, paid or otherwise, does not require any special qualifications other than skills derived from the gender socialization process. The concentration of women in care work and the lack of educational opportunities are mutually reinforcing, highlighting a market logic that requires a large enough mass of paid or unpaid carers to keep society functioning. Conversely, analysis of the population of women with 13 years of education or more shows that most of these work in better-paid and more prestigious occupations (see figure II.3). In urban areas, women working in domestic service or exclusively as unpaid housewives have higher illiteracy rates than the rest of the female population, which matches the pattern observed (see table 10 in the statistical annex). These data are important, first and foremost, for governments, since they show the difficulties that have to be overcome to achieve the third Millennium Development Goal: “promote gender equality and empower women”. The dropping of adult literacy programmes in almost all the educational reforms carried out in the recent past has heightened the vulnerability of many women, particularly Afrodescendants and members of indigenous groups in some of the region’s countries. 39 The data analysed are also important for women’s movements that have to take account of the divides between women themselves in the design of their equality agendas. Although domestic and care work is common ground for women from different social categories and income groups, it is clear that poorly paid domestic workers have to face a twofold burden as unprotected workers with family responsibilities. When the cultural divides between these different groups are considered as well, this challenge ultimately ties in with the needs of social cohesion and integration. 39 At the national level, new large-scale literacy training efforts are beginning in Bolivia and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, so that in future it should be possible to study their effects on the most vulnerable groups of women (information provided by the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela at the subregional preparatory meeting for South America for the tenth session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, Santiago, Chile, May 2007).
76 Figure II.3 LATIN AMERICA (SIMPLE AVERAGE FOR 15 COUNTRIES): FEMALE POPULATION AGED 15 AND OVER, BY OCCUPATION AND YEARS OF EDUCATION, URBAN AREAS, AROUND 2005 (Percentages) 40 35 34 30 25 20 15 14 15 21 22 14 16 20 29 15 19 20 24 24 18 24 27 29 31 18 18 30 10 11 7 5 2 0 Other employed Other Total Housewives Domestic service Other Other employed Total Housewives Domestic service Other employed Total Housewives Other Domestic service Domestic service Housewives Total Other employed Other Domestic service Housewives Other Total Other employed 0 to 3 4 to 6 7 to 9 10 to 12 13 and over Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of special tabulations of household surveys from the countries concerned. Most women employed on unpaid domestic work (housewives) are married or otherwise cohabiting (75% as against 49% for the population as a whole) (see figure II.4). Women carrying out unpaid work are more likely than others to be living with preschool-age children and with other people in potential need of care such as older adults, the sick and the disabled (61% live with one or more people requiring care) (see figure II.5). These data show what is concealed behind the concept of “family constraints”, which includes the need to look after the spouse or partner, children and other dependents who do not necessarily fall into the category of the sick, the disabled or the vulnerable receiving the benefits of unpaid care. The data also show that women in other occupations share their households with fewer people needing care.
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LC/L.2738(CRM.10/3) August 2007 The
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1 FOREWORD The Economic Commission
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3 INTRODUCTION The women of Latin A
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5 essentially not on biological fac
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8 Convention, but the process has b
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10 among development, security and
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12 Another sphere of democratic deb
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14 to articulate their efforts in i
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16 boundaries between human, reprod
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18 relatively less powerful, new gl
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20 universalist school’s argument
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22 democratic movements, gradually
Page 27 and 28: 24 Table I.2 LATIN AMERICA (20 COUN
Page 29 and 30: 26 In many countries, a new collect
Page 31 and 32: 28 In Costa Rica the quota issue be
Page 33 and 34: 30 Table I.3 LATIN AMERICA AND THE
Page 35 and 36: 32 The differences between the resu
Page 37 and 38: 34 Figure I.4 LATIN AMERICA AND THE
Page 39 and 40: 36 Figure I.6 CARIBBEAN (11 COUNTRI
Page 41 and 42: 38 Figure I.9 CARIBBEAN (9 COUNTRIE
Page 43 and 44: 40 Women’s entry to parliament ca
Page 45 and 46: 42 Figure I.10 LATIN AMERICA AND TH
Page 47 and 48: 44 Figure I.12 THE CARIBBEAN (10 CO
Page 49 and 50: 46 Figure I.14 LATIN AMERICA (15 CO
Page 51 and 52: 48 Table I.6 LATIN AMERICA AND THE
Page 53 and 54: 50 was from 9% to 1.3%, Jamaica (fr
Page 55 and 56: 52 agencies at the highest level an
Page 58 and 59: 55 II. WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTION TO TH
Page 60 and 61: 57 more concerned with the ethic of
Page 62 and 63: 59 Box II.1 THE WORK OF CARE IN SOC
Page 64 and 65: 61 of care on women mounts up. This
Page 66 and 67: 63 conditions of employment of work
Page 68 and 69: 65 social security and social benef
Page 70 and 71: 67 disincentive to their recruitmen
Page 72 and 73: 69 seeks to reform the constitution
Page 74 and 75: 71 Box II.4 REGULATION OF EMPLOYMEN
Page 76 and 77: 73 those in rural areas (42.1%), wh
Page 80 and 81: 77 Figure II.4 LATIN AMERICA (SIMPL
Page 82 and 83: 79 Figure II.7 LATIN AMERICA (SIMPL
Page 84 and 85: 81 Box II.6 HAITI. DOMESTIC WORKERS
Page 86 and 87: 83 It is interesting to characteriz
Page 88 and 89: 85 care to the “productive” adu
Page 90 and 91: 87 Box II. 7 (concluded) To sum up,
Page 92 and 93: 89 are also inaccurate, which widen
Page 94 and 95: 91 Some progress has been made sinc
Page 96 and 97: 93 Figure II.15 AVERAGE HOURS SPENT
Page 98 and 99: 95 Country Costa Rica El Salvador G
Page 100 and 101: 97 domestic life is shared between
Page 102 and 103: 99 employee for family reasons. The
Page 104 and 105: 101 In the private sphere, there ha
Page 106 and 107: 103 Table II.4 SEVEN SELECTED CITIE
Page 108 and 109: 105 Box II.12 EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL SE
Page 110 and 111: 107 III. TOWARDS A RESEARCH AND POL
Page 112 and 113: 109 (iii) Contribute to the mainten
Page 114 and 115: 111 Appendix TECHNICAL NOTES The st
Page 116 and 117: 113 Household survey information al
Page 118 and 119: 115 sub-module “home maintenance
Page 120 and 121: 118 _____ (2003), "Políticas para
Page 122 and 123: 120 Carrasco, Cristina (2001), “H
Page 124 and 125: 122 _____ (2003b), “Redes de apoy
Page 126 and 127: 124 Huenchuan, Sandra and José Mig
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126 Montaño, Sonia (2007a), “Emp
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128 Rico, María Nieves (2006), “
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130 _____ (1979), Convention on the
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