Breathe
By Fátima Masse
We live in a country in which less than half of women of productive age have economic autonomy, understood as the capacity to generate their own income sufficient to make decisions autonomously. This situation is the result of a series of inequalities that begin in the home and continue into the workplace.
Against this backdrop, I wonder what a presidency committed to closing gender gaps in the labor market would look like. Three characteristics come to mind:
1. Prioritizes the provision of alternative care.
Gender roles are deeply ingrained in our social and economic dynamics, with women serving as the primary caregivers. This limits the time they have to get a job. Just to size up the imbalance, for every man who is out of the paid economy due to household chores there are 14 women (ENOE data, 4Q 2022).
Currently, formal female workers can take advantage of the childcare centers of the social security system to which they are affiliated, but only 46% of all female workers have this possibility. However, only 46% of all female workers have this possibility. What about women in the informal sector? Furthermore, what about those who care for children over six years of age, the elderly, people with disabilities or people with illnesses? There are practically no public options for them.
A pro-worker presidency is aware of this situation and prioritizes solutions. It designs and implements policies such as childcare centers or full-time schools to contribute to a comprehensive care system. Also, it calls for expediting the discussion of legislative initiatives to build a National Care System, which is the first step to formalize this system and refers to the rules to articulate the supply of these services at the federal and state levels.
2. Offers inclusive working conditions for its female employees.
The presidency is the head of the Federal Public Administration (APF), a sector in which more and more women are breaking the glass ceiling and occupying the position of Secretary of State. Despite this achievement, the presence of women within these institutions decreases as the position rises. According to an IMCO study, while 44% of secretaries of state are headed by a woman, only 28% of undersecretaries and unit heads are occupied by a woman. This suggests that the professional growth of women does not occur organically.
The Federal Government as an employer of almost 1.5 million people can set an example to offer more inclusive working conditions. A presidency committed to its female civil servants can establish clear rules on working hours and working hours, take advantage of its payroll detail to monitor changes in gender gaps, institutionalize Gender Equality Units in the APF and implement actions -such as leadership training and mentoring- so that more women can reach higher positions.
3. It takes care of private investment and encourages new jobs to be inclusive.
Private investment is essential for the creation of new quality jobs. For this to increase, legal certainty is needed. However, in recent years this certainty has been threatened by the cancellation of large investments (such as the NAICM or the Constellation Brands plant in Mexicali), as well as unfounded threats from presidential discourse (such as what happened with Tesla before its arrival in Nuevo León was confirmed). In this sense, a pro-worker -and pro-competitiveness- presidency recognizes that the private sector is fundamental to generate better quality jobs, which is reflected in daily narratives and decisions.
In addition, it allocates budget and will to promote that these jobs are more inclusive so that more women can access them. One way to achieve this is through the certification of the Mexican Standard on Labor Equality and Non-Discrimination (NMX-025-SCFI-2015). To make it more attractive to companies, it is necessary to disseminate its benefits, simplify the application processes and reduce its costs, eliminate from the register those who do not have the current certificate and increase the social value for companies that achieve certification.
Public policies are not enough to achieve gender equality in the Mexican labor market. However, a commitment that is reflected in the Federal Government's budget and decisions could speed up the necessary changes to achieve this goal. Hopefully this will be a topic of conversation in the next presidential elections!
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of Opinion 51.
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