The COVID-19 pandemic has set back the progress women in Latin America and the Caribbean made in the labor market by more than a decade, according to a special report released Wednesday by the Santiago-based Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

According to ECLAC's latest pandemic-related report "The economic autonomy of women in a sustainable recovery with equality," the rate of job market participation by women was at 46 percent in 2020, while for men it was 69 percent, in contrast to 2019, when "these rates were 52 percent and 73.6 percent, respectively."

In 2020, the study explains, "there was a mass exodus of women from the labor force, who have not returned to search for employment, having to attend to care demands at home."

What's more, the region's 7.7 percent plunge in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 and the impact of the health crisis on employment "are negatively affecting household income."

The United Nations regional organization estimates that around 118 million Latin American women are living in poverty, 23 million more than in 2019.

"The women of the region are a crucial part of the frontline response to the pandemic," representing 73.2 percent of those employed in the health sector, ECLAC Executive Secretary Alicia Barcena said in presenting the report at a press conference.

These women endure "extreme working conditions such as long work days," increased risk of contagion and salary discrimination, earning 23.7 percent less than their male counterparts, said Barcena.

Another field that largely employs women is paid domestic work, "one of the sectors hit hardest by the crisis," notes ECLAC.

To improve labor conditions for women, "Latin America and the Caribbean must invest in the care economy and recognize it as a dynamic sector in the recovery, with multiplying effects on wellbeing, the redistribution of time and income, labor participation, growth and tax revenue," said Barcena.

Governments should also "prioritize health workers in their vaccination strategies, including persons who provide associated services like cleaning, transport and care, as well as those working in educations systems and domestic health, most of them women, who are a fundamental pillar for the care and sustainability of life," she recommended. 

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