Berliner Boersenzeitung - Unemployment, pay gap, instability the pandemic legacy for Peru's women

EUR -
AED 3.973743
AFN 72.902233
ALL 98.375571
AMD 417.79432
ANG 1.945844
AOA 986.133506
ARS 1068.267744
AUD 1.653032
AWG 1.947377
AZN 1.839693
BAM 1.955305
BBD 2.179969
BDT 129.017365
BGN 1.95627
BHD 0.407693
BIF 3138.035244
BMD 1.081876
BND 1.431051
BOB 7.460113
BRL 6.233336
BSD 1.079637
BTN 90.755044
BWP 14.492602
BYN 3.533306
BYR 21204.776285
BZD 2.17627
CAD 1.505853
CDF 3148.259798
CHF 0.938418
CLF 0.036956
CLP 1019.721489
CNY 7.717785
CNH 7.702197
COP 4719.155418
CRC 554.25724
CUC 1.081876
CUP 28.669723
CVE 110.237116
CZK 25.353879
DJF 192.263144
DKK 7.460507
DOP 65.024454
DZD 144.297528
EGP 52.717527
ERN 16.228145
ETB 129.016558
FJD 2.467322
FKP 0.827818
GBP 0.832012
GEL 2.953711
GGP 0.827818
GHS 17.544562
GIP 0.827818
GMD 75.193377
GNF 9311.730682
GTQ 8.345889
GYD 225.882863
HKD 8.407061
HNL 27.235363
HRK 7.453079
HTG 142.285324
HUF 405.477492
IDR 17028.300858
ILS 4.035942
IMP 0.827818
INR 90.973088
IQD 1414.355314
IRR 45552.402923
ISK 148.498191
JEP 0.827818
JMD 170.806005
JOD 0.766941
JPY 165.872743
KES 139.561795
KGS 92.836702
KHR 4388.930395
KMF 492.741184
KPW 973.688463
KRW 1496.656931
KWD 0.331692
KYD 0.899781
KZT 529.261016
LAK 23669.01296
LBP 96736.830569
LKR 317.0598
LRD 207.301396
LSL 19.12304
LTL 3.1945
LVL 0.654416
LYD 5.21173
MAD 10.651106
MDL 19.353015
MGA 4990.82984
MKD 61.599419
MMK 3513.892154
MNT 3676.215837
MOP 8.639815
MRU 42.689202
MUR 49.885388
MVR 16.617965
MWK 1872.161049
MXN 21.700092
MYR 4.753221
MZN 69.142553
NAD 19.12304
NGN 1775.975519
NIO 39.730318
NOK 11.859675
NPR 145.209612
NZD 1.814788
OMR 0.416517
PAB 1.079627
PEN 4.06381
PGK 4.323946
PHP 63.080941
PKR 299.874733
PLN 4.338975
PYG 8594.905376
QAR 3.936404
RON 4.975118
RSD 117.105565
RUB 105.443931
RWF 1468.321804
SAR 4.063125
SBD 9.015862
SCR 15.191686
SDG 650.753943
SEK 11.51203
SGD 1.433492
SHP 0.827818
SLE 24.559198
SLL 22686.402474
SOS 617.041069
SRD 37.138645
STD 22392.65596
SVC 9.446698
SYP 2718.247053
SZL 19.12825
THB 36.545776
TJS 11.498292
TMT 3.786567
TND 3.344254
TOP 2.533864
TRY 37.097237
TTD 7.317149
TWD 34.666025
TZS 2942.70341
UAH 44.65603
UGX 3956.999083
USD 1.081876
UYU 44.928635
UZS 13803.508424
VEF 3919153.881248
VES 45.625543
VND 27406.63241
VUV 128.442565
WST 3.030535
XAF 655.788089
XAG 0.032073
XAU 0.000398
XCD 2.923825
XDR 0.81151
XOF 655.797179
XPF 119.331742
YER 270.820683
ZAR 19.12303
ZMK 9738.24388
ZMW 28.745994
ZWL 348.36374
  • RBGPF

    62.3500

    62.35

    +100%

  • NGG

    -0.8800

    65.12

    -1.35%

  • RYCEF

    0.0400

    7.25

    +0.55%

  • RELX

    -0.2500

    47.91

    -0.52%

  • CMSC

    -0.1600

    24.57

    -0.65%

  • BTI

    -0.4500

    34.46

    -1.31%

  • RIO

    0.4000

    66.58

    +0.6%

  • GSK

    0.2900

    38.17

    +0.76%

  • AZN

    -0.7900

    75.22

    -1.05%

  • BP

    -1.6900

    29.36

    -5.76%

  • SCS

    -0.3800

    12.21

    -3.11%

  • VOD

    -0.2600

    9.28

    -2.8%

  • CMSD

    -0.0400

    24.84

    -0.16%

  • BCC

    -6.9800

    131.64

    -5.3%

  • BCE

    -0.2300

    32.46

    -0.71%

  • JRI

    -0.0900

    12.98

    -0.69%

Unemployment, pay gap, instability the pandemic legacy for Peru's women
Unemployment, pay gap, instability the pandemic legacy for Peru's women

Unemployment, pay gap, instability the pandemic legacy for Peru's women

When the pandemic struck Peru and forced the economy to shut down in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus, women were some of the hardest hit.

Text size:

Silvia Munoz lost her job as a domestic worker, while Yolanda Chambi was forced to close her shop selling traditional Peruvian clothes.

Both were among millions of Peruvian women to lose their income during the pandemic, which exacerbated gender inequality.

Theirs is a story seen throughout Latin America on the eve of International Women's Day, where four million women remain unemployed even after regional economies have reopened.

When Covid struck, many women were forced to give up work to look after sick family members and children as schools and creches were closed as part of government restrictions.

And while most have since returned to work, many have had to accept lower salaries or even make do with working in the informal sector.

Once the virus reached Peru in March 2020, "there was no work, there was nothing," said Munoz, 65, speaking from her home in the working class Lima neighborhood of Villa Maria del Triunfo.

One thousand kilometers (620 miles) away in Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca, Chambi tells a similar story.

"We lost all our earnings," she said.

She used to sell clothes to locals for the Virgen de la Candelaria festival that takes place on February 2 and involves traditional Andean music and dancing.

It has been canceled for the last two years due to Covid.

Unable to sell her wares, Chambi could no longer afford the rent on her home-cum-workshop.

She was forced to move with her four children to the family home in the countryside, where they grow potatoes, broad beans and other vegetables.

While many countries in the region paid out benefits to those that lost their jobs due to the pandemic, few people in Peru received such aid because 70 percent of the 33-million population works in the informal sector, and very few -- especially the poor -- have bank accounts.

- Gone back 10 years -

The International Labor Organization says women have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

The ILO says 24 million women in Latin America lost their jobs during the pandemic and as many men.

But while only half a million men remain out of work, eight times as many women do, "which contributes to amplifying the impact of the crisis on gender inequality at work."

Women's unemployment in the region is 12.4 percent, compared to just 8.3 percent for men.

After years of steady progress, "the pandemic has taken us back more or less to the figures from 10 years ago," Italo Cardnoa, the ILO chief for Peru, told AFP.

Sectors that traditionally employ a lot of women have been particularly hard-hit by the pandemic, such as hotels, restaurants, services and the informal sector.

"The return of women to the labor market is much slower than for men," said Cardona.

Daysi Falcon, 34, lost her job as an administrative assistant at a manufacturing company in March 2021.

She now sells prepared meals to acquaintances.

She says her family members were "dying one after another from Covid," and she spent months caring for them.

- 'I feel powerless' -

Many of those back in work have been forced to accept lower pay.

A few months ago, Munoz, who supports her ill husband, started working again four days a week -- but for 30 percent less pay than before.

Having previously earned $25 a day, she now receives $17.50.

"You have to accept it because behind me is someone who takes less," said Munoz.

"I feel powerless because you get older, you're not as strong as you used to be and when you're older still, there's no pension."

Chambi, who sells breakfasts by the roadside, is likewise pessimistic about the future.

"If the festival remains suspended, if our economy remains suspended, we will have no earnings," she said.

(K.Lüdke--BBZ)