an economic perspective on women’s struggle

unemployment

• The decrease in the unemployment rate for women compared to the third quarter of 2019 was greater than that for men. (unemployment in women fell 1.8pp while in men, 1.2pp).
• The gap between the unemployment rate for men and the unemployment rate for women was reduced. In the third quarter of 2020, the distance was 2.5 points (13.1% unemployment in women vs 10.6% in men). In 2021, the difference is 1.3 points (9% women vs. 7.7% men).
• Young people: in the pandemic, the unemployment rate for women between 14 and 29 years old was 23.1% and 19.8% for men in the same age range.
• With the economic recovery of 2021, a decrease in the gaps in access to the labor market could be observed. This reinforces an important reality, that economic crises generally have an unequal impact on women relative to men, due to underlying structural inequalities,” the report detailed.

labor informality

Despite the fact that the general informality rate fell 1.9 pp compared to 2019 and that it fell 3.6 pp in men, when we review said rate in the world of women, it is observed that it remained at the same level and also It is located above that of men, maintaining this relationship constant for more than 6 years.

“The way out of the double crisis generated by the macroeconomic conditions left by the previous government and the Covid-19 pandemic was with a recovery in employment, which also implied the reactivation of informal jobs. In the case of men, the informality rate fell compared to pre-pandemic levels (30.6% in the third quarter of 2021 against 34.2% in the same period of 2019). For women, this indicator returned to the same point as in 2019, registering 36.0% informality. Not only was the level of informality maintained in women, but the difference between the informality of men and women deepened, rising from 1.8 pp to 5.4 pp In other words, the improvement in informality was not registered in employed women and with this, the gap in the informality rate widened, demonstrating that women have less access to the employment market. work, and when they do, they generally do so in more informal and lower-paid jobs,” said CEPA.

strain2.png

income gap

The income gap is an indicator that condenses the asymmetries in the labor market between women and men, which are reflected in their income levels. The salary gap results from the comparison of salary masses (number of hours per salary), for which the number of hours worked by men and women, as well as the hourly value received, influences said gap. Indeed, the factors that affect the number of hours worked with pay and the value of those hours worked are diverse, namely:

• the rate of participation in paid work;
• vertical and horizontal segregation, which impacts the value of hours worked;
• the hours they dedicate to unpaid work;
• labor informality.

According to official data, women generally work between 4 and 12 paid hours less than men. On the other hand, according to the INDEC Time Use Survey (2013), women dedicate 3 hours a day more than men to unpaid care work (caring for children, the elderly, cleaning, cooking, etc.). etc.). The unequal distribution of unpaid care work means that women have fewer hours to work in the paid labor market.

This situation is evidenced when analyzing the activity rates: the female activity rate as of the third quarter of 2021 amounted to 50.4%, while that of men stood at 69%, maintaining a difference of almost 20 percentage points.

On the other hand, the hours of feminized work (which are occupations with a care load) are less well paid, and this is expressed in a phenomenon called horizontal segregation or glass walls. Another variable that influences income gaps is vertical segregation or glass ceilings, which implies that women face an “invisible” but absolutely real barrier to access hierarchical and decision-making positions, which are also the better paid jobs within each sector. For example, a study by the Head of the Cabinet of Ministers showed that in senior public management, the ratio is 44% women and 55% men, while in higher positions the distance is 22% women and 78%, men, which is a relationship that has been going on for several years.

When the behavior of income gaps in 2021 is analyzed, it is observed that, like the informality rate, the gaps in personal income and income by main occupation remained at levels similar to those of 2019. When analyzing income By main occupation (income corresponding to the main work activity), men received 25% more income than women. This gap widens to 28.4% when looking at personal income (work and non-work income such as pensions, retirement, child support, among others). However, this figure is slightly lower than that recorded in the third quarter of 2019 (29.0%), which could be attributed to an improvement in access to income complementary to labor income for women.

informal wages

Finally, the CEPA report refers to the income gap between informal wage earners. According to the report, not only did it deepen compared to the third quarter of 2019 and 2020, but it also reached the highest level in the last 5 years. Male informal workers receive 38.2% more income than women. In contrast, the gap for formal wage earners is 19.6%, remaining at the same level as in the last four years and standing in the middle of the informal gap.

“It is essential and necessary that the economic recovery contemplate not only access to the labor market for women and diversities, but that it be with equality and equity. Access is not enough, if women are not promoted in positions with decision-making power, if policies that distribute care in a shared manner and infrastructures with a gender perspective are not promoted, that allow women and dissidents to enter the formal labor market with decent wages,” concluded CEPA.