Manage HR Magazine | Friday, January 07, 2022
An outlook on how the pandemic shift has affected the working class of women in Latin America.
FREMONT, CA: This is the fourth part of how the Covid-19 pandemic has altered the labor market and the way millions of people think of employment. According to the International Labor Organization, the Covid-related recession lost 4.2 percent of women's employment worldwide during the pandemic, compared to 3 percent for men, aggravating a global gender gap in which 43 percent of working-age women are employed compared to 69 percent of males. While the she-cession has mostly ceased in Western countries and certain parts of Africa, its repercussions are still felt strongly in Latin America. As per the forthcoming World Bank analysis, women are still 2.6 times more likely than males to have lost their pre-pandemic jobs, and many have quit the labor market totally. Almost every country in the region today has lower female work participation rates than before the pandemic.
Stay ahead of the industry with exclusive feature stories on the top companies, expert insights and the latest news delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe today.
Despite the fact that cases are currently low, Mexico has one of the world's highest pandemic excess death rates, and the country's economic recovery has been delicate. Ximena Del Carpio, the World Bank's poverty and equity practice group leader stated that because of the uneven nature of the recovery, the gaps have expanded across the board. The women in the region who have feared the worst are mothers with young children. Mexico's vaccination programme has been slow outside of the city, with only half of the country's population properly vaccinated. According to Unesco, Latin America has some of the world's longest school closures, which has had a significant impact on women. Social standards surrounding parenting and housework make things even more difficult. Statistics authority INEGI showed a Mexican woman working 40 hours a week will do more than twice as much domestic work as a guy working the same schedule.
More in News