Executive
Summary
When female labor markets in Canada, Mexico and the United States are
compared it is notablethat despite the
substantial differences in the economies
of these countries, women workers in
the three countries present several
surprisingly similar labor market characteristics
and trends. This is reflected in aspects
such as the concentration by occupation
and by economic sector, the share in
part-time employment and in certain
characteristics of female earnings.
However, there are also noteworthy differences
in some variables, such as the rates
of participation, the workforce distribution
by age, the average hours worked, the
levels of education and unemployment.
During 1984-1996, the following
were among the main characteristics
of female employment:
The rate of participation of women
in the labor force increased substantially
during 1984-1996 in all three countries.
Mexico had the greatest increase,
within the participation rising of
female workers 15 years and older
rose nearly 10 percent, from 27.8
percent in 1984 to 37.4 percent in
1996. In Canada, the female participation
rate increased from 54 percent in
1984 to 57.6 percent in 1996. In the
United States, the rate of female
participation has increased more rapidly
than in Canada but less rapidly than
in Mexico, rising from 53.6 percent
in 1984 to 59.3 in 1996. In Mexico
and the United States, the rate of
participation grew during the whole
period, while in Canada it remained
essentially the same after 1993.
Some of the factors explaining the increasing share of women in the
labor force in North America are the
improvement of educational levels
among the female population, the economic
need for women to contribute to family
income, more part-time job opportunities
for women and the reduction in the
fertility rate. The latter is an important
factor mainly in Mexico, which experienced
a very substantial decline in its
fertility rate in the last 25 years.
There is a strong correlation between
lower fertility rates and higher rates
of labor force participation, although
the relationship reflects a complicated
interplay of causality and reinforcement.
The increasing participation of women in the labor force has increased
their share in family income. Nevertheless,
it remains substantially lower than
men's share, particularly in Mexico
where women's income accounted for
only 18 percent of total household
income in 1994. In Canada, female
income accounted for 31 percent of
total family income in 1992. In the
United States, women's earnings accounted
for 34.1 percent of total family earnings
in 1995.
There is a close relationship between educational levels and female
participation in the labor force in
all three countries: the higher the
level of education, the higher the
female participation rate. For example,
in Canada the rate of participation
for women with university degrees
was 80.3 percent while it was 18 percent
for women with eight or fewer years
of education in 1996. Although there
is a similar correlation for men,
the difference in the rate of participation
by level of education is less among
men. For example, in Canada, the participation
rate for men with university degrees
stood at 85.1 percent, and at 37.6
percent for men with eight or fewer
years of education. Differences in
participation rates by level of education
are even less in Mexico.
The greatest increases in the participation of women in the labor
force were reported for women between
the ages of 25 and 54 years in all
three countries. In Mexico and in
the United States, female participation
rate of younger women (from 15 to
19 years old) also increased, while
in Canada participation by this group
decreased.
In all three countries wage and salaried employment (as compared
to self-employment and unpaid work)
is slightly more common among women
than among men. In the United States,
the share of female wage and salary
workers of total female employment
accounted for 93 percent in 1996,
compared to a 90 percent share for
men. The figures for Canada were 90
percent for women and 87.5 for men,
and 60 percent and 58 percent, respectively
for Mexico.
The occupational structure of the female labor force showed substantial
growth in managerial and professional
occupations, with major increases
in Canada and the United States. At
the same time, all three countries
experienced reductions in the participation
of women in clerical occupations.
Nevertheless, in 1996, leading occupations
among women in all three countries
continued to involve education (teachers),
healthcare (nurses), and posts such
as clerks and secretaries, salespersons
and service personnel in restaurants
and cleaning activities. By sector,
female employment is largely concentrated
in social and personal services (above
all, in activities related to healthcare
and education) and in retail trade.
With respect to employment in social
and personal services, Canada has
the highest proportion, with a total
of 51.4 percent of female employment
in 1996. In the case of retail trade,
Mexico has the highest share, at 21.3
percent of female employment in 1996.
In North America, women workers account for a higher proportion of
part-time employment than men. Mexico
has the highest rate of part-time
female employment, 39 percent of all
female workers in 1996. The same year,
the United States had the lowest proportion
of part-time female employment, at
27 percent of women workers. In Canada,
part-time employment growth has been
substantially higher than full-time
employment growth since 1990. A similar
trend was reported in Mexico up until
1995. In contrast, in the United States,
full-time employment of women grew
at a higher rate than part-time employment
until 1993. As of 1994, a marked increase
in part-time work was noted.
The fact that part-time work is more common among women than among
men in all three countries is also
reflected in lower weekly average
hours worked for women. The highest
average working hours for women are
found in Mexico, with a weekly average
of 36.7 hours in 1996. In the same
year, the average stood at 35.7 hours
in the United States, followed by
Canada, with 32.5 hours per week.
During the same year, the average
number of hours worked by men in these
three countries stood at 44.7, 42.3
and 40.7 per week, respectively. When
only hours of work for full-time workers
are compared, women's average hours
worked continue to be lower than men's,
although the difference is less than
for all workers.
Female employment stability, measured in terms of average job tenure,
is significantly lower than the stability
of male employment. This situation
may be explained in part by the need
for women to interrupt their work
for maternity and childcare. Canadian
female workers had an average of 7.1
consecutive years of work for the
current employer in 1996, while the
figure for men stood at 8.9 years.
In the United States, the average
number of years of work with the same
employer for wage and salaried women
stood at 6.1 years in February 1996,
while the average for men stood at
7.3 years. In Mexico, female workers
had an average of 6.7 years of work
with the same employer in 1995; the
figure for men stood at 8.4 years.
Although the average stability of
female employment has increased in
the three countries, the percentage
of women in jobs for five years or
less is still high, compared to the
proportion for men.
In all three countries, the earnings received by women workers are
lower than those received by their
male counterparts, although the differences
have been reduced. This reduction
of the earnings gap between men and
women is mainly attributable to a
better performance of female earnings
than men's earnings during the period
under review. In Canada, real earnings
for full-time female workers grew
at a higher rate than men's earnings
during 1984 and 1996. In the same
period in the United States real earnings
for females increased, while men's
earnings declined. In Mexico, real
earnings of both men and women workers
declined between 1991 and 1996, but
the decrease was slightly less in
the case of female workers.
The increasing share of female workers between the ages of 25 and
54 in total female employment in the
three countries is another factor
that may influence the closing earnings
gap between women and men, since older
workers have substantially higher
earnings than younger workers in the
three countries. Generally earnings
of single men and women in North America
are more similar than those of married
men and women.
In all three countries there is considerable salary dispersion among
women workers, For example, in the
United States, the average remuneration
level reported for the ninth decile
of female employees was 108 percent
higher than the remuneration for the
fifth decile of female employees in
1996. The figure for the same deciles
in Canada stood at 78 percent in 1994.
In Mexico in 1992, earnings of female
production workers in the manufacturing
sector were 78 percent lower than
earnings for female executives in
the same sector. In comparison to
the situation in 1981, female salary
inequalities have grown considerably
in the United States while salary
dispersion has remained stable in
Canada.
In regard to female unemployment, there are important differences among the three
countries. In Canada, higher overall unemployment rates, longer average unemployment duration
and a greater proportion of unemployed women with prior working experience characterize female
unemployment. In Mexico, female unemployment is characterized by lower unemployment rates, a
shorter average duration and by a higher incidence of voluntary unemployment (for personal
reasons). The United States has a female unemployment rate between the other two countries, with
a high proportion of unemployed women with prior working experience and a large proportion of
women unemployed for involuntary reasons.
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