The participation of women in the labour force of Latin America: fertility and other factors

The level of labor force participation among Latin American women, when compared with participation rates for other countries, is the lowest in the world. Only 20% or less of women 10 years of age and older are economically active. This level did not change much between 1950 and 1970. Few women work in agriculture. The following factors are considered for their effect on labor force participation of urban women: marital status, education, income, and the structure and stage of development of the society. Married women have a low participation rate. More highly educated women are more likely to work, but there must be demand for their work services. As the economy of various countries has progressed, female participation in domestic services has decreased, in industry has remained constant between 1960 and 1970, and in social services has expanded. It is concluded that work participation for married women will only increase with the following changes: 1) improved educational opportunities for women; 2) structural change and modernization in the economy; and 3) reduced family fertility. Changes in the first 2 factors are more important than reduced fertility. Since 1960, only Chile and Costa Rica have had a 25% decline in fertility rates.     

Female labour force participation and fertility

The levels of labor force participation by women in selected Asian countries were recorded in a series of censuses taken over a period of years. These levels were less influenced than male employment levels by economic conditions and more influenced by cultural traits of the country. Postwar trends seem to have fallen in Korea, risen in Singapore and the Philippines, and remained steady in Japan, Malaya, and Thailand. The limitations of these data are mentioned. In Thailand and West Malaysia greater percentages of women worked in agricultural than non-agricultural employment; in the Philippines, where women did not work so much in agricultural pursuits, their jobs were still in traditional rather than in development industries. In the cities of Bangkok, Manila, and Kuala Lumpur, fertility was lower for working than for non-working women. In rural agricultural areas, the fertility of working women was minimally higher, probably due to economic need of lar ger families. It is concluded that urban life separates the employment and the family roles of working women, leading to lowered fertility; this does not occur in rural areas. The creation of new roles for women alternative or supplementary to marriage and motherhood would result in lowered fertility. In high fertility Asian countries, policies directed toward greater participation of women in non-agricultural work and great er exposure to an urban lifestyle might achieve fertility reductions.     

The fallacy of the lump of labour theory: Evidence for Latin America

In a context of population ageing, this article analyses the “lump of labour” theory using empirical evidence from Latin America. Instead of finding a crowding-out effect, estimations using a fixed effects model on a panel of annual data drawn from household surveys in 11 countries between 2002 and 2019 suggest a positive correlation between the employment rates of older adults and young people. Additionally, results show a positive association between the labour incomes of older and young workers. These findings could indicate that an expansion in the employment of older adults maintains economic growth and, therefore, a greater demand for labour, which could be supplied by young people.     

The segregated participation of women in the Canadian labour force, 1941-71*

L'article examine les emplois des canadiennes principalement à partir des données du recensement. Malgré le changement des attitudes par rapport au travail féminin et l'accroissement considérable de la participation féminine dans la force du travail, la ségrégation professionnelle demeure virtuellement la même entre 1941 et 1971. La plupart des femmes au travail continuent àêtre concentrées dans quelques emplois, emplois à prédominance féminine. Les femmes se joignent à la force du travail par nécessitééconomique et on peut établir une relation entre l'accroissement de la participation féminine et de la disparitééconomique par une analyse des mouvements dans la distribution du revenu au cours des années et dans le nombre recevant un revenu dans chaque famille. Finalement, le bas salaire des femmes au travail et l'écart grandissant entre les hauts et les bas revenus ont été camouflés par l'énorme croissance du nombre de femmes mariées dans la force du travail. Using primarily census data, we examine the jobs held by Canadian women. Despite changing attitudes to women's work and despite the substantial growth in the labour force participation of women, occupational segregation stays virtually unchanged between 1941 and 1971. Most working women remain concentrated in a few jobs, jobs which are dominated by female workers. Economic need has been chiefly responsible for their joining the labour force, and a link can be established between increasing female participation and growing economic disparity by analysing shifts over the years in income distribution and in the number of income recipients per family. Finally, both the low pay for women workers and the growing disparity between high and low individual income recipients have been camouflaged by the tremendous growth in the number of married women in the labour force.     

Socialist Feminism in Latin America

The women's movement around the world takes many stances, including women's rights, feminism, women's research, women's auxilaries of political and religious organizations and socialist feminism. Because of its unique political and economic history, socialist feminism is the dominant emergent stance of the women's movement in Latin America. Brazil, Peru, and the Dominican Republic are examined. Socialist feminism is related to both the international women's movement, political trends within each county and constraints of the current political situation. Women's movements in other Latin American countries are also briefly discussed.     

A review of the participation of disabled persons in the labour force: the Kenyan context

This paper presents a review of the challenges that disabled people experience in participating in the Kenyan labour market. It draws on existing literature and on a narrative of the experiences of one disabled academic in a Kenyan university to highlight some of the forms of discrimination that disabled people have to cope with in their workplaces. The goal is to further our understanding of the nature of barriers that disabled people face in the work environment in Kenya, with a view of exploring ways of addressing those barriers and developing some recommendations for improvement. It is clear from the interview with a disabled academic that, despite strides made by the Kenyan government in terms of enacting the Disability Act, which aims at boosting disabled people’s participation in employment, there is still a big gap between the law and its implementation. What is needed is constitutional change and implementation of the existing law at all levels, as well as provision of resources to support this change.     

Taxation and female participation in the labour market

A well established result in empirical economics is that male labour market participation does not respond much to changes in taxation but female participation does. This paper reviews a range of contributions relating to such decisions in the light of two further empirical studies on labour market decisions — one in low income households and the other in higher income households. One finding is that an important factor in decisions relating to female participation appears to be the continuing strength of the traditional division of labour by gender in households. The tax treatment of childcare also emerges as an issue both on first principles and as an influence on the labour market decisions of women (and particularly for women on low incomes).     

Poverty and psychological distress in Latin America

The objective of this paper is three-fold: first, to study the psychological distress of the Latin American poor. Second, to study differences in psychological distress between the poor and the relatively wealthy in Latin America. Third, to study how economic growth impacts the psychological well-being of the poor.This paper uses micro-level information from the Gallup 2007 Survey for 16 Latin American countries to study psychological distress of the poor in Latin America; the survey is representative at the country level. The investigation works with approximately 12,500 observations. Psychological distress is measured on the basis of a set of questions regarding a person’s emotional situation the day before he/she answered the questionnaire.The investigation finds out that the poor show greater psychological distress than the wealthy and that the gap is statistically significant. However, it would be inappropriate to attempt predicting a person’s psychological well-being on the basis of his/her poverty condition alone, since many factors affect people’s psychological well-being. The paper also shows that rapid economic growth seems to be detrimental to the psychological well-being of the poor, and that the impact of economic growth on psychological well-being differs between the poor and the relatively wealthy.     

Psychosocial aspects of vasectomy in Latin America

Abstract

This paper examines some of the reasons for the paucity of vasectomy programs in Latin America and some considerations which should be taken into account before such programs are implemented. Social constraints, the structure of the Latin American family, and the “machismo” cult are discussed. The authors conclude that if the processes of self‐selection, screening and counseling are employed, vasectomy programs can be just as successful in Latin America as in other parts of the world.     

Immigrant workers in the Libyan labour force

Using a series of statistical analyses, this study assesses the importance of foreign labour in the Libyan economic and social structures over the last 30 years. It notes the development of a particular series of dependencies on such labour, especially in skilled and professional occupations. Despite the government's declared policy of Libyanization, the authors note the development of a parallel labour market of nationals and non‐nationals and the consequential difficulties of moving towards full implementation of such a policy.     

Contextualizing mistreatment in cognitive impairment in Latin America

Mistreatment is an important social outcome of the growing cognitive impairment epidemic, particularly in developing countries. This study aimed to bring to light what is known about mistreatment in cognitively impaired individuals in Latin American Countries. We identified a gap in the literature on this topic that opens the door for future research.     

Latin America and the Postwar Era

Trying out a “Beyond the Bubble” assessment in a social studies methods classroom revealed that the assessment worked much better than any multiple choice item while retaining great ease in marking. However, as discussion of the item showed, the rubrics for the item apply the “sourcing” heuristic so literally that it loses some power. Specifically, any answer from the 19th century is automatically wrong since students are asked to think about a 20th century poster and play. Yet the authors of the play about John Brown, writing in 1930, were indeed thinking about John Brown. Answers that methods students gave that combined an item from the 19th and 20th century demonstrated considerable historical thinking.