Two different paths into work

Women’s employment in Chile rose 0.2 percent year on year in June–August, while men’s employment fell 1.7 percent. Total employment declined 0.9 percent. Yet women’s access to work also remained strained: their labor force grew 1.3 percent and unemployment reached 10.3 percent. The small employment gain lagged the expansion in labor-force participation. Among men, the labor force contracted 0.5 percent while unemployment stood at 9.1 percent.[1]

My second question concerns the kind of work available. Informal employment accounted for 28.3 percent of women’s employment and 24.8 percent of men’s. The number of women working informally increased 2 percent, while the corresponding number for men fell 1.2 percent. The combination of a small increase in women’s overall employment and expanding informal work suggests that more women working provides limited reassurance about access to formal jobs. These are aggregate movements; they do not track individual women moving from formal to informal employment.[1]

The household’s jobs and hours

The number of formal salaried employees fell 2.9 percent. Total actual hours worked declined 2.4 percent, and average hours per worker fell 1.6 percent to 36.4. Job losses and changes in hours among those employed can affect household income through different channels. With hourly earnings unchanged, fewer paid hours mean lower earnings. However, these figures do not jointly measure paid hours and wages, so I would not calculate the size of an income loss from them.[1]

The pressure behind rising unemployment therefore differs across households. Men’s employment losses, women’s expanding search for work and increasing informal employment among women represent different strains. Falling average hours could also reflect a changing mix of workers across sectors; every worker need not have experienced the same reduction in shifts. I would assess recovery through stronger formal salaried employment together with hours worked, alongside the overall number employed. Whether women’s improved access to work also reaches formal jobs is a distinct part of that assessment.[1]