Women at Work in Latin America and the Caribbean

February 14, 2017

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Natalija Novta, and Joyce Wong. Women at Work in Latin America and the Caribbean, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2017) accessed September 18, 2024

Disclaimer: IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

Women across the world remain an underutilized resource in the labor force. Participation in the labor force averages around 80 percent for men but only 50 percent for women – nearly half of women’s productive potential remains untapped compared to one-fifth for men. Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), as a region, saw the largest gains in female labor force participation (LFP) in the world during the last two decades. Women in LAC are becoming increasingly active in paid work, closing the gap with men and catching up to their counterparts in advanced economies at an impressive rate. In this paper, we document the recent trends in female LFP and female education in the LAC region, discuss the size of potential gains to GDP from increasing female LFP and policies which could be deployed towards this goal.

Subject: Education, Gender, Gender diversity, Gender inequality, Labor, Labor force participation, Women

Keywords: Asia and Pacific, Caribbean, Central America, Economics of gender, Female LFP, Gender diversity, Gender inequality, Labor force participation, LAC, LFP data, LFP gap, LFP gender gap, LFP rate, LFP statistics, Public policy affecting female LFP, South America, Women, Women’s labor supply, WP

Publication Details

Pages:

34
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2017/034
Stock No:

WPIEA2017034
ISBN:

9781475578928
ISSN:

1018-5941

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