Background

In 1996, the total population of North America amounted to 388.3 million people; of these, 51 percent were women. Women’s participation in the economic activities of the region is highly significant: in 1996, for every 10 workers in North America, 4.3 were women. Over the last 20 years female participation has grown at a greater rate than that of their male counterparts. This differential growth has not been restricted to North America but has also occurred in other countries and regions of the world.

The purpose of this study is to outline the main labor market characteristics of female labor in the three countries of North America, while describing its evolution from 1984 to 1996 and pointing out differences and similarities¹. Although considerable efforts were made to gath-er the most comparable data, for some variables it was not possible to obtain information for the whole period; for other variables, data was not available for all three countries. In these cases the analysis was made based on the available informa-tion for each country.

The first chapter describes the main differences and similarities of female employment in the NAALC countries and analyzes such aspects as the employment structure (as defined by economic activity and by occupation), the number of hours worked and salaries. The second chapter contains a description of female unemployment, its levels and its main characteristics. The third and final chapter offers a regional comparative perspective on female employment in North America by presenting a comparison of some of its characteristics with female employment in the European Union². Three appendices are also included; the first offers an overview of the legal rights of women workers; the second includes notes on information sources and the main conceptual differences affecting the data used; and the third appendix contains a selection of statistical information concerning female employment in the countries of North America from 1984 to 1996.