COVID-19 in Mexico: women have had more economic and labor impacts than men

In Mexico, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has not been the same on women and men.

In order to make these differences visible, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) carried out a gender-perspective study of its various information programmes, highlighting how the pandemic has affected women and men in 5 specific areas: occupation and employment, income and expenditure, work unpaid and education, health, as well as security and violence.

Inegi highlighted that the pandemic led to a decrease in economic activities, causing, in both women and men, a decrease in the labor market, loss of employment and a drop in economic income.

However, the recovery has occurred in a differentiated way, which could be due to various factors; for example, the suspension of activities impacted sectors in which women are more involved and whose reopening has been slower, such as the service sector.

The National Institute of Statistics and Geography explained that the participation of women aged 15 and over in the labour market was affected by the suspension of non-essential activities.

“Although, since before the pandemic, there was already a marked difference in the participation of women and men, as an immediate consequence of this health contingency, there was an increase of 2.7 million women in the Non-Economically Active Population (PNEA), that is, who did not carry out economic activities and did not seek work , of which 2.4 million came from the Economically Active Population (EAP), who were either employed or unemployed (in search of employment),” he said.

She specified that although women within the PNEA have been decreasing with the gradual opening of the economy, the level before the health emergency has not yet recovered.

He highlighted that in the fourth quarter of 2021 (October-December), the number of women in the Non-Economically Active Population stood at 28,738,387 people. While those within the Economically Active Population were 23 million 206 thousand 103 women; that is, there are more women who do not have a job than those who do.

Regarding the states in the country where the most jobs were lost for women at the beginning of the pandemic are: Tabasco, Baja California Sur, Sonora and Mexico City.

The study highlights that the reduction in economic activities, due to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, has mainly affected informal workers, as they lose their livelihoods almost immediately and exit the labour market.

Prior to the pandemic, in the first quarter of 2020, the Labour Informality Rate 1 (TIL 1) for women was 56.7%, in contrast, men stood at 55.3%. By the end of the second quarter of 2020, TIL showed a decrease of 7.1 percentage points, representing 3.5 million women.

The gradual reopening of activities has allowed the recovery of lost jobs. However, the unemployment rate for women continues to be at a higher level than was observed prior to the health emergency caused by the SARS CoV-2 virus.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, 4 out of every 100 economically active women were unemployed, which means nearly 108 thousand more women in this condition than in pre-pandemic levels.

Regarding the impact on employment income of employed women, Inegi highlighted that lockdown measures represented a major blow to the household economy in Mexico. In particular, women's income was affected during the months of April to July 2020 due to reduced economic activities.

Inegi highlighted that in April 2020, five out of 10 employed women decreased their employment income; while by July 2020, 4 out of 10 women continued to decline their income.

In the first quarter of 2020, both women and men increased their income compared to 2018. However, the decline in economic activity resulting from the pandemic caused their average monthly income for 2020 to decline.

In 2020, women had an average income lower than men by 2,500 pesos per month. For the first quarter of 2020, women's monthly income was, on average, 5,021 pesos. By the end of that same year, the monthly average was already 4,883 pesos.

In contrast, men had an average monthly income of 8,317 pesos in the first quarter of 2020, while at the end of the year their average monthly income was 7,432 pesos.

Inegi highlighted that during 2020 and compared to 2018, women's monthly monetary income decreased for those with high school level and above. For example, a woman with a complete or incomplete postgraduate degree earned in 2018, on average, 22,289 pesos per month, but by 2020 her average monthly income fell to 18,924 pesos.

In contrast, women who had complete or incomplete secondary education had an average monthly income of 3,417 pesos in 2018, but by 2020 their income rose slightly to 3,587 pesos per month.

Confinement also led to an increase in work carried out inside homes, traditionally by women, while there was a decrease in activities that require transfers outside the home.

Inegi highlighted that in 2020 the economic value of unpaid work in households was 6.4 billion pesos, equivalent to 27.6% of the country's GDP. Of this amount, women contributed 2.7 times more economic value than men for their domestic work and home care activities. That is, for every weight that men contributed in 2020, women contributed 3.

In contrast, in 2019 the economic value of unpaid work in households was 5.6 trillion pesos and represented 22.9% of GDP.

Between 2019 and 2020, the activities that showed the greatest increase were care and support, providing food, cleaning and maintenance of the home.

When comparing the economic value of work done by women between 2019 and 2020, it can be seen that during the pandemic activities such as: care and support, providing food, cleaning and maintenance of housing increased more.

In the case of men's participation, these activities also increased, however, despite this change, domestic and care activities continue to fall mainly on women, for example, for every weight men contributed in 2020 in providing food, women contributed 5 .

During 2020, there was an increase in average weekly hours worked in domestic and care work; in women, the activity that showed the greatest growth was that of providing aid to other households, followed by providing food, as well as cleaning and maintenance of housing.

In contrast, there was a decrease in activities that require transportation outside the home such as shopping and administration, time spent on volunteer work, and care activities such as taking a member of the household to school, medical appointment or other activity.

Comparing the hours that women and men devote to certain activities, we can see the inequities that continue today and that were not solved during the pandemic, for example: in 2020 women worked on average a week 13.9 hours (13.7 in 2019) to provide food, and men 4.3 hours (4.2 hours in 2019).

In 2020, the economic value of unpaid work of married or united women was more than twice that of single women and three times that of married or united men. While in households with children under 6 years of age, women perform 3 times more unpaid work than men; this proportion was maintained between 2019 and 2020.

Confinement due to the pandemic also led to an increase in domestic violence.

In the period from January to September 2020, 9.2% of women aged 18 and over reported having experienced violence in the family environment. However, in the same period in 2021, when confinement measures were relaxed and economic activities were reopened, this percentage decreased by 2 percentage points, to 7.2%.

Of the women aged 18 and over who suffered violence in the family environment, the main perpetrator reported were persons without kinship, followed by the husband/romantic partner and another family member.

If you would like to view the full study, click here.

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