UAEM Researcher Says Government Policies Must Back Working Women The News
go to original January 1, 2013

Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) researcher Katy Rodríguez Gómez said that the government must design public policies that help women cope with the challenges of working life.

She cited the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC), which reported that women work on average 6.5 hours per day of unpaid labor at home.

Rodríguez Gómez said there is an economic disparity between women and men because of discrimination and a lack of employment opportunities and public policies that encourage women to participate in the labor force, contributing to an increase in the number of women living in poverty.

In an article recently published in the magazine Papeles de Población, the UAEM academic suggests that the “feminization of poverty” is not applicable in Mexico because of what “feminizing” implies, despite the fact that there are more women than men who live in poverty.

Rodríguez Gómez went on to say that “a reinterpretation, based on quantitative evidence, is necessary to demonstrate that female poverty occurs at a higher rate and is more common in households led by men,” although she noted that poverty is not exclusive to gender.

She said public policy that addresses gender issues is necessary to help economically marginalized women become financially independent.

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