Of the many faces that Mexico shows, one of the worst faces women. Whether in conditions of equality or respect for their rights, female workers have few conditions to guarantee their entry, permanence and growth in a workplace, according to an analysis carried out by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO).
Although Mexican women work a lot, the reflection they have on the economic impact is lower due to the prevailing working conditions in the country. Of the total number of women who are able to work, only 43.6% of them are part of the economic participation of the labor force, which places Mexico below the world average of working women. “Women’s economic participation is not everything,” she said. Valeria Moy, CEO of IMCO.
Although one of the most painful indicators regarding the gender gap is the salary received by female workers, it is not the only one. At the national level, women earn 19.2% less than men for the same job, while in some states the gap widens to 17%.
Since it is not the same to be a working woman in Mexico City than to have a job in a city in Chiapas. According to the document “States with Gender Magnifying Glass 2022”, only Baja California and Mexico City are the states that have a passing grade, with 62.1% and 64.8% favorable conditions for the labor development of women in the country .
At a general level, the entities with the best performance such as Mexico City, Baja California Sur, Baja California, Colima and Nuevo León, although there are differences between the indicators that place them, such as the time dedicated to unpaid work (the work that is does mainly in the home and in the care of the family), in addition to their participation in informal jobs. According to the Inegi, 43% of female workers are employed in this sector, compared to 55% in the formal sector.
Once working women can be immersed in an industry, one of the great challenges is that they can grow. “We can talk about gender quotas, about participation, but when you talk about positions of power, it’s a different story,” says Moy.
Very few women have a rank of power in Mexico. Although in the private sector, the figures are not precise, it is enough to turn to see the Government to establish a photograph of this inequality. Only 23.1% of mayors or municipalities in Mexico are led by a woman, according to the National Census of Municipal Governments and Territorial Demarcations of the Inegi.
In an ideal world, according to IMCO calculations, a better inclusion of women could make Mexico’s gross domestic product (GDP) grow 15% higher by adding 8.2 million women to the country’s formal economy by 2030. However, given the different faces that Mexico shows to women, it is difficult to know with certainty which is the first item to attend to. “Reality shows us that girls are educated differently in the public or private system, that they are taught to believe that they are destined for certain things: it starts from a very early age and is perpetuated throughout their educational life and stays in working life,” reflects Moy.
subscribe here to newsletter of EL PAÍS Mexico and receive all the informative keys of the news of this country
#Working #women #grow #xray #labor #inequality #Mexico