Breathe
By Roxana Fabris
The housing backlog is a problem that disproportionately affects the most vulnerable populations, including women, children and low-income people.
The Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (Sedatu) has pointed out that of the total number of people living in housing with some level of backwardness, 50.7% are women, and of the 8 million people living in overcrowded housing in the country, 51.4% are women, a condition that represents a potential for violence in the home.
This is why the recent announcement by President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo that the Housing and Regularization Program -through which one million homes will be built and one million deeds will be delivered- will particularly support vulnerable populations such as women heads of household, young people, indigenous population and senior citizens, takes on special relevance.
This gap, which it is essential to close, extends not only to women who need housing, the improvement of the physical conditions of housing, and legal certainty of property ownership. There is another challenge, equally important to address, which may go unnoticed.
Wage gap
Women now represent 15% of the total number of people working in the construction sector. This means that their participation, in this post-pandemic stage, has grown significantly, not only in activities where they traditionally participate such as cleaning or kitchens, but also in masonry and security activities, among others.
However, despite having, on average, a higher level of education than men, their salary is only 65% of what men receive for similar activities and levels.
This situation is very different from what happens in other countries and economies. Construction immediately stands out as the only major industry in the United States with virtually no gender wage gap: the average woman in construction earns 99.1% of what the average man earns.
Why does this happen in our country if, statistically, women in construction have a higher level of schooling than men?
Why is it that the positions held by women in construction are mainly cleaning, masonry, welding and some administrative positions, when women today make up the majority of student entrants to architecture careers, but only a few prevail in this profession?
Yes, there are enormous challenges to achieve greater participation of women in construction, while decreasing the wage gap. Greater participation of women in construction must be accompanied by protocols that promote a culture of respect and equity. It can begin with the implementation of equal pay and gender equality policies, as well as the creation of training and development programs for women in construction.
A few days ago we organized the Women Building the Future Forum where, together with Canadevi Valle de México, we discussed how to promote the participation of women in the sector. One of the constants was the point that enabling the participation of more women under equal conditions is essential to achieve the goal of reducing the housing backlog we are experiencing.
Education, the axis of growth
There are efforts in this direction, such as the one we are making at Construyendo y Creciendo, a foundation that offers education and training to construction workers by placing study rooms inside the construction sites where they work. In this way, they are offered the possibility of studying before and after their workday, at all levels, from literacy to high school, and training in labor issues, development of digital skills and human development.
Since 2019, Construyendo y Creciendo incorporated the gender perspective in its vision, and since then, has redoubled efforts to offer women, the opportunity to study and train in its Classrooms, while bringing them courses and workshops that develop their soft skills and boost their empowerment.
Proof of this is that during 2023, the Building and Growing Classrooms offered education and training to more than 2,000 women, which represented 56.81% of the total number of students attended. It should also be noted that 63% of our graduates were women, which speaks of the will of our students to excel.
And I do not want to close this account without recognizing the 225 women construction workers who, in the last 10 years, changed their lives by learning to read and write, generating a positive impact not only in their lives, but also in the lives of their children and communities.
At Construyendo y Creciendo we are convinced that education is the most powerful weapon to change the world, and that by offering development opportunities to women, we contribute to the construction of a more inclusive, more equitable and, therefore, more sustainable industry.
*Architect graduated from the
Universidad Iberoamericana, with a diploma in Alta
Management by the same institution. His experience
professional has been developed in areas such as
housing industry, real estate development,
infrastructure and construction, specializing in
communication and communication-related issues
generation and administration of business plans.
Since 2017, she has served as Executive Chair of the.
Building and Growing Foundation, which seeks the
educational development of the workers of the
to improve their quality of life through the construction of new
and training. During his tenure,
the Foundation has been awarded several prizes and
awards, among them the UNESCO-UNESCO Prize for the
Confucius Literacy 2021.
She has been editor of several
magazines and specialized publications, as well as
more than 30 books.
In 2002, together with the architect Horacio
Urbano founds Centro Urbano, the group of
communication with the greatest impact on the sector
national real estate market, thanks to a strong portfolio of
specialized media with websites, magazines,
newspapers, books, events and networking projects.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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