The Female Participation in the Labor Force

The COVID-19 health crisis has been tough for everyone, especially for caregivers. The loss of options for childcare and face-to-face schooling, combined with a lack of appropriate policies that provide paid leave and job flexibility, led to an unprecedented crisis of care and conflict between work and family. The loss of these supports has been particularly consequential for women's careers, according to the WomenForWomen Ecuador Web Portal.

That's why a survey by the American Psychological Association found that parents reported significantly higher levels of stress during the early days of the pandemic in comparison with non-parents. Most of this stress appears to have resulted from the loss of support for care and inadequate regulatory responses to the conflict between work and the parents' family. Research shows that more than half of parents were using non-parent care, i.e. daycare, home care, grandparents, among others, before the pandemic, but only 3% had their children in the care of others by the end of April.

Protecting and Strengthening Women’s Economic Autonomy

Women's ability to achieve their livelihoods is affected by the epidemic. According to June 2020 data from the Great Integrated Household Survey (GHG), the Unemployment Rate (TD) stood at 19.8%, that is, 10.4 percentage points above the June 2019 rate, an increase of 2.2 million in the number of unemployed people, of whom 47.2% are women (1.0 million). Women's TD in June 2019 stood at 12.3% and a year later was already 24.9%. This is an increase of 12.6 percentage points. By contrast, men's TD in June 2019 and 2020 stood at 7.3% and 16.2%, respectively, an increase of 8.9 points. This shows that women's employment has been hit more by recent economic conditions.

In this sense, this indicates that beyond the impact of the economic emergency, women's highest unemployment is a structural situation inherent in gender and discrimination factors. Historical series indicate that in May 2020 the historical high of unemployment for both sexes was reached and the June gap is the widest since February 2011, according to a report published by a group of organizations, such as the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), UN Women and the Presidential Council for Women's Equity (ACPEM), called "Women and Men: Gender Gaps in Colombia."

Women's Employment Situation

In Latin America and the Caribbean, there is a significant increase in women's participation in the labor market, increasing from 43.5% in 1992 to 52.6% in 2012, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). However, despite these advances, there are still differences between men and women. In 2002, about half of women over the age of 15 had no income of their own, while only about 20% of men were in this situation. Currently, this figure remains for women globally, as about 50% of women are not economically active, according to ECLAC.

Also read: THE INFLUENCE OF YOUR GENERATION IN THE DIGITAL WORLD

On the other hand, the evolution of indicators related to the employment situation and access to employment of men and women in South America are analyzed in relation to time spent on paid and unpaid work and differences between men and women. That is why the benefits of gender equality have been paid mainly by women, who have developed strategies to optimize the use of time due to the low participation of men in household chores.

Families of the Future and Women As Head of the Household

According to the European Observatory on Family Policy, from the last half of the twentieth century to the present day, the family is undergoing unprecedented evolution and change. The elements that have most conditioned these changes are the demographic transition and the new social role of women, as well as the economic crisis with its consequent effects on the family. Certainly, the recent incorporation of women into work has completely altered the secular foundations of marriage and family relations and the traditional distribution of work within the family, according to an article published in the José Parada Family Forum, called "Family Education in the Family of the Past, Present, and Future."

In this sense, indicators provide data that impact family education of the future on a number of trends that are likely to be consolidated over the coming years:

1. The consolidation of the family model composed of the couple and few children.

2. Growth of families uniquely in urban areas.

3. The development of cohabitation as a family life form based on pragmatic values.

4. The growth of non-family relationships.

5. Stagnation in current rates of fertility.