Women at Work in Latin America and the Caribbean
IMF Working Papers, February 14, 2017
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- Women at Work in Latin America and the Caribbean
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: Natalija Novta, Joyce Wong
- Published: February 14, 2017
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781475578928.001
Overview
- 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) saw the largest gains in female labor force participation (LFP) in the world during the last two decades.
- The paper documents recent trends in female LFP and female education in the LAC region, discusses the size of potential gains to GDP from increasing female LFP, and outlines policies which could be deployed towards this goal.
Key findings and trends
- 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.
- The region experienced the largest gains in female LFP globally over the last two decades.
- The paper analyzes female education trends alongside LFP changes in LAC.
Potential economic impact
- The study discusses the size of potential gains to GDP from increasing female LFP (specific estimates and methodologies are presented in the full paper).
Policy directions
- The paper discusses public policy options that could be deployed to increase female LFP (policy areas and recommendations are detailed in the full paper).
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- Women at Work in Latin America and the Caribbean