Female economic inequality in Mexico

Inequality increased around the world, so much so that it is now at the highest level, according to ECLAC data. The challenge to eradicate poverty is very great if one considers that there is a strong inequality that negatively impacts economic performance, causes uncertainty and political instability and generates obstacles to the full exercise of citizenship, that is, it produces a vicious circle that is very difficult to break. .



According to Ruth Zavaleta Soto in her column for Excelsior, "since inequality is expressed both in the unequal distribution of income and in the different spaces of social and economic life, the data show that although some countries have advanced, the region remains the most unequal after sub-Saharan Africa.



This is explained by the level of poverty that prevails, for example, in 2017, the number of poor people in Latin America reached 184 million, equivalent to 30.2% of the population, while the number of people in extreme poverty stood at 62 million, representing 10.2% of the population.



In this context, the statistics of gender poverty that derive from the labor and income inequality suffered by women in the region are striking and demonstrate that, until 2013, the comparison of the gaps between labor income by Sex positioned Mexico as one of the most unequal countries for women.





For Zavaleta, "despite the government France Mobile Number List programs and budgets designed to reduce inequality between men and women in the last six-year term (cross-cutting gender perspective budget was more than 28 billion pesos in 2018), the numbers of the "Inegi continue to demonstrate female inequality in the economic sphere and the impact of a masculinized culture."



And with respect to economic participation, 77.5% are men and 43.7% are women. Furthermore, the greatest presence of women in formal work is recorded in health and social assistance services (62.0%); educational services (61.8%); accommodation and food preparation services (54.5%); retail trade (52.8%); and financial and insurance services (49.5%).



These figures highlight that women's participation is concentrated in some sectors of the economy, such as care (teaching, health, social assistance and domestic employment), which constitutes their largest source of employment.





Which means that they are really relevant figures. As if that were not enough, 53% of the economically active female sector does not have access to formal jobs and 74.8% does not have their own income (they depend on their family or on social assistance when they are older and do not have social security).



But, if these data show a regrettable inequality in relation to access to formal work, there are other data that show the failure of women's economic empowerment programs, for example, entrepreneurship, where women represent 50.9% of the workforce. microenterprise; 43.9 in small businesses; 37.1 in the medium one and 37 in the large one.