Pandemic will worsen Latin America's gender inequality

Significance

However, according to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the coronavirus pandemic may undo more than a decade’s progress on labour participation, with a disproportionate effect on poorer women.

Impacts

• Even pre-pandemic, one in four women compared with one in ten men lacked an income of their own; this will worsen.
• The number of women below the poverty line increased by almost one-fifth in 2020, which will affect families and children in particular.
• Some LAC countries are approaching gender parity in political institutions such as parliaments.