Mapping the Gendered Social Policies in Latin America

Our previous research on the gendered social policies in Latin America has shown that in most Latin American countries, there have been no significant reforms of the labor market and retirement structure to favor flexibility, allowing women to decide the periods in their lives when they will work and when they choose to care for their children or elders. However, there have certainly been some limited measures promoting female labor participation: among them is the (unequal) implementation of public services for caring for early childhood care and pre-primary schooling, as well as, once in primary school, that school hours coincide as much as possible with working hours.

Latin America lags in gender social policies to include more women in salaried work and the social protection system. Concerning social policies that make it easier for women to engage in both productive and reproductive work, making public care institutions available, most Latin American welfare states are fundamentally the male breadwinner type. Latin America has vast differences regarding inclusion in social protection, although it is at the mid-level in the world and better off than many continents. However, social protection systems in the continent are mainly based on cash transfer programs that are founded on the fact that women must take care of their children, are lone mothers, and live in low-income families.

However, it's important to note that change is possible. Some countries, such as Uruguay and Chile, have made significant strides. They have the most advanced maternal leave conditions and institutions to support infant schooling. This progress serves to demonstrate that gendered social policies can be improved with the right policies and support. The purpose of mapping the gendered social policies in the continent is to establish a general context for future case studies.