The shadow price of female work

Women are taught to persist in a world where the system will fail us.

From childhood, we learn to wait for man to assume the danger, while we take care of care. In adolescence, layers of strict clothing and schedules add up to us, because rebellion costs us respect and even life.

Already adults, we have internalized so many lessons that our ability to question reality is diluted. And the streets are right to man, while our echoes are repeated so much that they are confused with the wind.

Recognition

According to UN Women (a Women), women – especially those of racialized, migrants and low -income groups – carry out more than three quarters of domestic work and care, most of them without receiving remuneration.

“The Minister of Labor asked us if we have objectives in life,” said Leddy Mozombite, general secretary of the National Federation of Household Workers (Fenttrahop), in statements to the Republic. “I wanted to break, but I didn’t like it.”

As a guest, the intervention took place within the framework of the International Day of Household Workers, on March 30, 2024.

Faced with doubts, yes, they have it. For Mozombite, who in turn has been traveling, sold and washing clothing, resulted in training his two children as professionals.

It was not until October 2020 that the Law 31047 And its regulation established that employers must provide a employment contract, health insurance, two annual bonuses, and a maximum working day of 8 hours a day with a rest period of at least 24 hours a week, among other details. However, these benefits are not always met. In fact, in many cases, they have been used as justification to reduce wages to a minimum, Mozombite said.

In Lima, monthly salaries range between S/1,130 and more than S/2,800, while in provinces the average is S/700, with cases reported of remuneration as low as S/100. “The Ministry of Women has a man’s head,” criticized the general secretary, pointing out the state’s lack of interest in this problem.

Proof of this is the archiving of the proposal to create a national care system, whose objective was to reduce the burden of unpaid work that falls on women.

Elections

Although the phrase may sound spent, it is never too late. Not only to demand better working conditions, but also to find a job.

“I remember a lady, radiant and cheerful, that on the day of her graduation she came to tell me: ‘Teacher, you have not only given me a profession, she has given me a new way of living,” said Anamaría Vílchez, director of the Academic Department of Education of the Faculty of Education at the National University of San Marcos (UNMSM).

With an avalanche of emotions in his words, he said that this woman confessed to having lived years feeling value, with her soul off by her husband’s blows. To his children, he lamented, I got crio among fear. He had no strength to separate.

Women choose the education career for personal experiences, such as wanting to improve education in their community or break cycles of inequality, Vilchez explained. Also, they see in it a stable work opportunity and with rapid insertion in the market.

“The roles assigned at home have contributed to demonstrate that we have the competitions: manage, lead, solve problems,” he added.

According to the study ‘Peru: Education indicators according to departments, 2013-2023’ of the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI), Education (16.1%) was the profession preferred by women. Followed by Business Administration (14%), Psychology (11.5%), Economic and Social Sciences (10.7%), Engineering, Industry and Construction (10.4%), Law and Political Science (8.3%) and Nursing (8.0%), among the main ones.

“Nursing has always been a female career, mainly close to care,” said Dr. Rocío Cornejo, director of the UNMSM Professional Nursing School.

San Marcos has 120 annual vacancies for the nursing career, but the demand far exceeds that figure, with an average of 20 to 30 applicants per vacancy.

“In every corner of the country, there are nurses sacrificing their time with their families to attend to those who need it most. To them, my deepest recognition, ”he said. His management develops under the leadership of Jeri Ramón Ruffner, the first rector in the history of the University.

On the other hand, the faculty with the highest number of female registrations in San Marcos is industrial engineering, which represents 36%. Rosa Karol Moore, research teacher at UNMSM, said that, although historically some disciplines have been dominated by men, women are currently challenging these perceptions.

“Companies evaluate the capacity and performance of each professional equally,” he said.

Reality

A new report by the International Labor Organization (ILO), ‘Women and the economy: 30 years after Beijing’s statement’published on the occasion of International Women’s Day, revealed that the employment gap between men and women was reduced from 27.1 to 23.1 percentage points since 1991. However, only 46.4% of women of working age have employment in 2024, compared to 69.5% of men. To the current rhythm, the parity would take almost two centuries.

Despite the increase of young women in education and training, progress in the labor market remains limited. Just 30% of the management positions are occupied by women, with a marginal improvement in two decades. In addition, they continue to have lower average income and less hours of paid work worldwide, and are overrepresented in informal employment in low and medium-low income countries.

“If there is no greater education or assessment of women in society, this inequality will persist. Gender approach training is key to reducing gaps and eradicating violence, ”said Janina León, president of the Board of Directors of the Economic and Social Research Consortium (Cies), To this newspaper.

and social (CIES), to this newspaper. Carmen Roca, Wiego coordinator (Women in informal employement: Globalization and Organizing) In Peru, he explained that despite the years of economic growth that reduced informal employment in approximately 1% per year, the proportion of independent workers has not been modified.

Formal employment absorbed some household workers already in microenterprises, but the independents remain an immovable block within the labor market. In 2021, informal employment in Peru affected 79% of women and 76% of men, which shows a gender gap.

“Maybe we could say that today women are not locked in a key, but they are trapped in situations that there is no escape,” Roca concluded.