Latin America gender divide persists

Outlook

Despite some improvements in gender inequality, across Latin America there were 113 women in poverty for every 100 men in 2017, rising to 115.6 in urban settings. Over 28% of women had no income of their own, compared to 13.2% for men.

As more women work in the care sector than men, women’s unpaid and low-paid work may rise in coming years -- along with the risk of violence that comes in some unsupervised care and domestic employment settings.

Impacts

• Laws guaranteeing women a ‘life free from violence’ have had little impact in Mexico, Bolivia and El Salvador.
• High levels of unpaid women’s work (averaging 20% of total work time) will limit improvements on poverty and employment.
• Ageing populations will drive increasing numbers into care work -- most of them women.