The Fort Worth Press - Unemployment, pay gap, instability the pandemic legacy for Peru's women

USD -
AED 3.67296
AFN 68.117769
ALL 91.052358
AMD 386.014842
ANG 1.797501
AOA 912.499323
ARS 993.754699
AUD 1.503872
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.701031
BAM 1.813092
BBD 2.013776
BDT 119.188661
BGN 1.81584
BHD 0.376994
BIF 2944.322901
BMD 1
BND 1.323235
BOB 6.916595
BRL 5.691802
BSD 0.997386
BTN 84.157539
BWP 13.316709
BYN 3.264054
BYR 19600
BZD 2.010438
CAD 1.388575
CDF 2865.000258
CHF 0.872205
CLF 0.034707
CLP 957.679894
CNY 7.162698
CNH 7.119295
COP 4323.25
CRC 509.585435
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 102.220265
CZK 23.405952
DJF 177.608647
DKK 6.913803
DOP 59.959953
DZD 133.374994
EGP 49.295001
ERN 15
ETB 122.777922
EUR 0.927055
FJD 2.262986
FKP 0.765169
GBP 0.77125
GEL 2.724981
GGP 0.765169
GHS 16.357653
GIP 0.765169
GMD 71.508525
GNF 8599.080392
GTQ 7.697121
GYD 208.667841
HKD 7.773125
HNL 25.162229
HRK 6.88903
HTG 131.211065
HUF 375.592968
IDR 15645.45
ILS 3.722225
IMP 0.765169
INR 84.37845
IQD 1306.572726
IRR 42104.999654
ISK 137.479752
JEP 0.765169
JMD 157.844482
JOD 0.709102
JPY 152.388504
KES 128.660047
KGS 86.202295
KHR 4052.024622
KMF 455.950246
KPW 899.999774
KRW 1386.379755
KWD 0.30662
KYD 0.831186
KZT 490.256791
LAK 21891.686443
LBP 89645.774041
LKR 291.836621
LRD 189.503252
LSL 17.435108
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.832579
MAD 9.863819
MDL 17.887867
MGA 4599.896173
MKD 57.1414
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3398.000028
MOP 7.984797
MRU 39.735983
MUR 46.417253
MVR 15.40973
MWK 1729.457134
MXN 19.807798
MYR 4.383501
MZN 63.90501
NAD 17.435432
NGN 1681.529769
NIO 36.700905
NOK 10.908555
NPR 134.651253
NZD 1.66474
OMR 0.385012
PAB 0.997395
PEN 3.769908
PGK 4.002892
PHP 58.290996
PKR 277.198439
PLN 4.009974
PYG 7741.582616
QAR 3.635209
RON 4.612502
RSD 108.442975
RUB 98.100487
RWF 1366.897805
SAR 3.756404
SBD 8.347827
SCR 14.042727
SDG 601.499729
SEK 10.72103
SGD 1.32146
SHP 0.765169
SLE 22.790126
SLL 20969.496802
SOS 570.02744
SRD 34.955027
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.72705
SYP 2512.530268
SZL 17.429917
THB 34.110318
TJS 10.602244
TMT 3.5
TND 3.103786
TOP 2.3421
TRY 34.370425
TTD 6.765426
TWD 32.109025
TZS 2670.000052
UAH 41.234426
UGX 3660.888106
UYU 41.466004
UZS 12775.563178
VEF 3622552.534434
VES 44.130956
VND 25290
VUV 118.722039
WST 2.801184
XAF 608.08829
XAG 0.029645
XAU 0.000367
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.747831
XOF 608.08829
XPF 110.559006
YER 249.850232
ZAR 17.434665
ZMK 9001.200628
ZMW 27.029257
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    0.0100

    61.4

    +0.02%

  • CMSC

    0.1700

    24.68

    +0.69%

  • NGG

    0.1800

    64.3

    +0.28%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0500

    7.16

    -0.7%

  • RELX

    -0.0500

    47.66

    -0.1%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.32

    +0.11%

  • SCS

    0.0200

    13.08

    +0.15%

  • RIO

    2.1400

    67.47

    +3.17%

  • BTI

    -0.2400

    35.4

    -0.68%

  • GSK

    0.7600

    36.66

    +2.07%

  • AZN

    0.8400

    64.69

    +1.3%

  • BCE

    -0.6700

    28.07

    -2.39%

  • CMSD

    0.0400

    24.89

    +0.16%

  • BCC

    -0.9100

    140.85

    -0.65%

  • JRI

    0.1200

    13.37

    +0.9%

  • BP

    0.1300

    30.29

    +0.43%

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.

H.M.Hernandez--TFWP