Gender disparities and the value of women’s work in the home

 Mexico's geography in the Press, Updates to Geo-Mexico  Comments Off on Gender disparities and the value of women’s work in the home
Apr 072016
 

In August 2012, in The value in Mexico of unpaid work in the home, we saw that a study by the National Statistics Institute (INEGI) based on 2010 data had calculated that routine work done in the home (almost 80% of the time-value involved comes from women) was worth about 2.9 trillion pesos to the Mexican economy each year, equivalent to more than 20% of Mexico’s GDP. The INEGI calculations included the costs in time/labor needed to meet the demands of the home, and the net salary that would be paid for someone undertaking similar tasks.

INEGI has just published updated statistics on this topic.  In 2014, unpaid work by women in the home was equivalent to 18% of GDP. This figure means that female contributions in the home continue to make a greater contribution to national GDP than manufacturing (16.7%), commerce (15.5%) or education (4.1%).

The latest INEGI figures show that for every 10 hours that women work (paid or unpaid), men work only 8.3 hours. According to INEGI, the average value of unpaid work by women in the home in rural areas amounted to  51,808 pesos a year (about US$4300 at the then rate of exchange). The value for women married or living with a partner was 61,456 pesos, compared to 26,082 pesos for single women. The average in households which included children under 6 years of age was 60,628 pesos.

Of 29 million Mexicans in employment (in 5.7 million economic units), women account for 43.8% (graph):

% of women in different sectors of the workforce

% of women in different sectors of the workforce, 2014

The figures do reveal a slight decrease in gender inequality since the employment of women is rising slightly faster than that of men, by about 2.0%/year compared to the overall figure of 1.4%/year. In 2014, about 50% of service workers, 34.5% of manufacturing workers, and 11.0% of construction workers were female.

Related posts:

How does Mexico’s unemployment rate compare to that of other countries?

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Nov 212013
 

In a recent post, we looked at The pattern of unemployment in Mexico in 2013 and saw how states in northern Mexico have significantly higher unemployment rates than most of southern Mexico. In this post we consider international comparisons. How does the rate of unemployment in Mexico compare to the rates in other countries?

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) publishes harmonised unemployment rates for its 31 member countries. The OECD calculates Mexico’s harmonised unemployment rate for the third quarter of 2013 at 4.9%. This is quite encouraging, since the average for OECD countries is 7.9%. (Note that these figures do not include “underemployment”.) Mexico’s unemployment rate is more favorable than that of its NAFTA partners, Canada (currently 7.1%) and the USA (7.6%).

The OECD members with the highest unemployment rates are Greece (27.4%), Spain (26.6%),, Portugal (16.4%), the Slovak Republic (14.0%) and Ireland (13.8%).

Among OECD members, only South Korea (3.1%)  Japan (4.0%) and Austria (4.1%) have a lower harmonised unemployment rate than Mexico.

 

The pattern of unemployment in Mexico in 2013

 Updates to Geo-Mexico  Comments Off on The pattern of unemployment in Mexico in 2013
Nov 182013
 

The accuracy of Mexico’s unemployment statistics is frequently questioned in the media but INEGI, Mexico’s National Geography, Statistics and Information Institute, uses internationally accepted methods to compute various different unemployment indices. As in most countries, INEGI surveys are based on samples in urban areas, involving 80,000 interviews in more than 30 towns and cities.

The International Labour Organization defines “unemployed workers” as those members of the workforce currently not working but willing and able to work, who have actively sought work in the past four weeks. Note that the mere act of looking at newspaper or online ads is not considered sufficient evidence of “actively seeking work”.

Mexico’s economically active population in the third quarter of 2013 was 52.3 million people, a very slight (0.01%) increase on the comparable figure for 2012.  The figure represents 59% of the total population aged 14 and over.

INEGI statistics show that the under-employed population was 8.5% of all those with jobs. The unemployed population was 2.7 million, 5.2% of the workforce.

Mexico’s workforce is not gender-independent. 77 out of every 100 men are economically active, compared to only 43 of every 100 women. The workforce can be subdivided between primary occupations (6.8 million, 13.8% of the total workforce); secondary occupations (11.9 million, 24%) and the tertiary or services sector (30.6 million, 61.6% of  workforce), with the remaining 0.6% undeclared.

Map of unemployment rates

Unemployment in Mexico, third quarter of 2013. Cartography: Tony Burton; all rights reserved

Out-migration from several southern and western states has significantly reduced unemployment. Several southern states are among those with the lowest unemployment rates in the entire country.

The highest rates of unemployment are mainly in northern Mexico, parts of which have seen on-going violence in the war against drugs. Workers flocked to these areas during the boom times of Mexico’s maquiladora program when firms were encouraged to set up “in-bond” factories in these states, enjoying the freedom to import components and export finished products. However, the slow recovery of the US economy has reduced demand for consumer products and many maquiladora factories have reduced their workforce, leading to intense competition for available jobs and a higher rate of unemployment.

What other factors influence unemployment and help explain the patterns shown by the map?

This post describes the spatial pattern of unemployment in the third quarter of 2013. By way of comparison with 2010, see

Mexico’s economy and workforce are analyzed in chapters 14 to 20 of Geo-Mexico: the geography and dynamics of modern Mexico. Ask your library to buy a copy of this handy reference guide to all aspects of Mexico’s geography today! Better yet, order your own copy…

Unemployment in Mexico in 2010

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Sep 042010
 

The accuracy of Mexico’s unemployment statistics is frequently questioned in the media but INEGI, Mexico’s National Geography, Statistics and Information Institute, uses internationally accepted methods to compute various different unemployment indices. As in most countries, INEGI surveys are based on samples in urban areas, involving 80,000 interviews in more than 30 towns and cities.

The International Labour Organization defines “unemployed workers” as those members of the workforce currently not working but willing and able to work, who have actively sought work in the past four weeks. Note that the mere act of looking at newspaper or online ads is not considered sufficient evidence of “actively seeking work”.

Mexico’s economically active population in the second quarter of 2010 was 47.1 million people, 1.4 million more than for the same period in 2009. This figure represents 59.2% of the total population aged 14 and over. The increase over the past year is due partly to population increase and partly to personal decisions to participate (or not) in the workforce. INEGI statistics show that the under-employed population was 8.9% of all those with jobs. The unemployed population was 2.5 million, 5.3% of the workforce.

Mexico’s workforce is not gender-independent. 78 out of every 100 men are economically active, compared to only 43 of every 100 women. The workforce can be subdivided between primary occupations (5.9 million, 13.2% of the total workforce); secondary occupations (10.6 million, 23.7%) and the tertiary or services sector (27.9 million, 62.4% of  workforce), with the remaining 0.7% undeclared.

Unemployment in Mexico, second quarter of 2010.

Unemployment in Mexico, second quarter of 2010. Cartography: Tony Burton; all rights reserved.

The map shows the spatial pattern of unemployment in the second quarter of 2010. Out-migration from several southern and western states has significantly reduced unemployment. Several southern states are among those with the lowest unemployment rates in the entire country.

The highest rates of unemployment are mainly in the states along Mexico’s northern border. Workers flocked to these areas during the boom times of Mexico’s maquiladora program when firms were encouraged to set up “in-bond” factories in these states, enjoying the freedom to import components and export finished products. However, the on-going economic hard times in the USA have reduced demand for such items. In response, many maquiladora factories have laid off some of their workforce, leading to intense competition for available jobs and a higher rate of unemployment.

Unemployment is also high is Tabasco, a center for Mexico’s oil industry. Here, many people have lost their jobs as Mexico’s oil production has been declining in the past few years. Needless to say, it is not only Pemex workers who have been laid off, it is also workers for the hundreds of firms supplying goods and services to Mexico’s oil giant.

What other factors influence unemployment and help explain the patterns shown by the map?

Mexico’s economy and workforce are analyzed in chapters 14 to 20 of Geo-Mexico: the geography and dynamics of modern Mexico. Ask your library to buy a copy of this handy reference guide to all aspects of Mexico’s geography today! Better yet, order your own copy…

Unemployment rates in Mexico

 Updates to Geo-Mexico  Comments Off on Unemployment rates in Mexico
Jun 232010
 

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) has recently published unemployment rates for its member countries. Mexico fares quite well; its rate of “open unemployment”  so far this year has hovered around 5.5%. This is quite encouraging, since the average for the 31 OECD countries is around 8.7%. Note that these figures do not include “underemployment”.

The OECD members with the highest unemployment rates are Spain (19.7%), Slovakia (14.1%), Ireland (13.2%), Portugal (10.8%), Hungary (10.4%) and France (10.1%).

The lowest rates are in South Korea (3.7%), Netherlands (4.1%), Austria (4.9%), Japan (5.1%), Luxembourg (5.4%) and Australia (5.4%).

Mexico’s unemployment rate is more favorable than that of its NAFTA partners. Open unemployment is currently 8.1% in Canada and 9.7% in the USA.

The impact of NAFTA on urban growth in Mexico

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Jun 192010
 

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), signed in 1994, had a significant impact on the pace and pattern of urbanization in Mexico.

NAFTA removed tariffs on imported corn and beans.  Small Mexican producers could not compete with the cheap imports from the USA. As a result, an estimated 1.3 million agricultural jobs in Mexico were lost. Many of those who lost work in rural areas, moved to Mexican cities or to the USA to search for employment. Most of these drifted into the urban informal sector in cities throughout Mexico.

Geo-Mexico, figure 20.2

Geo-Mexico, figure 20.2 All rights reserved.

On the plus side, NAFTA created an estimated 500,000 jobs in Mexican manufacturing, mostly maquiladora assembly plants focused on the US market. These plants and their multiplier impacts generated rapid growth in border cities, particularly Ciudad Juárez, Tijuana, Mexicali, Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, and Reynosa (see map).

Largely as a result of NAFTA, border cities grew faster during the 1990s than most other Mexican cities, essentially reversing the trend that existed during the 1980s. Though after 2000 many of Mexico’s border maquiladora industries moved to lower cost countries, most border cities continued to grow rapidly.

In conclusion, the overall NAFTA impact has strongly stimulated urban growth while fostering rural decline and out-migration.