Research

Women in the Workforce: Mexico (Quick Take)

Jun 30, 2020

POPULATION

Mexico Is the Most Populated Spanish-Speaking Country in the World1

Mexico’s total population is 128,649,565, which makes it the tenth most populous country in the world.2

Most (80.7%) of the Mexican population live in urban areas.3

Mexico’s population skews young: 26.0% are aged 14 years or younger, compared to only 7.7% of people aged 65 years or older.4

EDUCATION

The Gender Gap in Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Education Enrollment Has Been Closed5

In 2018-2019, women either nearly met or exceeded parity among enrolled students in Mexico’s higher education.

  • In 2018-2019, women represented 49.5% of students in bachelor’s degree programs compared to 50.5% of men.6
  • In postgraduate programs, women comprised 52.1% of students, compared with 47.9% of men.7
While More Women Are Attaining Tertiary Education, They Do Not Experience Equal Access to Employment8

Women aged 25-34 are 4% more likely to attain tertiary degrees than men are of the same age.9

  • A slightly higher share of women (34.2%) attained degrees in Business and Law, compared with 32.0% of men.10
  • Only 14.5% of women attained degrees in STEM, compared with 37.6% of men.11

Having a college degree is no guarantee of a job for women in Mexico.

  • 75% of women college graduates do not have a paid job in the formal economy.12

LABOR FORCE

Women’s Participation in the Labor Force Continues to Lag Behind Men’s and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Average13

Despite a slight increase over the past 15 years, women’s labor force participation in Mexico remains lower than that of many emerging countries.14

  • Fewer than half of working age women aged 15 and older in Mexico participate in the labor force. In 2019, 44.2% of women were in the labor force, compared with 78.5% of men.15
  • In the same year, women’s share of the total labor force was 38.8%.16

Increasing women’s labor force participation would raise Mexico’s GDP by 70% ($800 billion).17

In 2019, Mexico ended its successful subsidized child care program, which had served 2 million children since 2007. The program was instrumental in supporting more women to work outside of the home.18

Women with dependents (children or elderly) face bias by companies and are overlooked for promotion and recruitment.19

Women Are More Heavily Engaged in the Informal Economy and Unpaid Work

More than half of Mexico’s population is engaged in the informal economy, with women (58.8%) more likely than men (50.1%) to hold informal jobs.20

Women perform more than 75% of duties such as unpaid housework and childcare.21

Women Are on the Frontlines Both Socially and Economically Due to Covid-19

Women make up 85% of the 475,000 nurses in Mexico.22

Women in Mexico are about half of those employed in retail, one of the industries most heavily impacted by Covid-19 job losses.23

Mexico continues to be one of the most dangerous countries for women. The Covid-19 lockdown may increase that rate of violence against women.24

  • During the first three months of 2020, over 900 women were murdered, with 244 of those considered gender-based murders.25

LEADERSHIP

Only One Out of Every 200,000 Entry-Level Women Will Reach the C-Suite in Mexico26

In 2018, the percentage of women in entry level positions was 37% with just 10% in executive committee positions.27

  • Men are promoted more often than women in all roles at all levels.28
  • The gender gap in promotions is especially wide at higher job levels, with only 8% of women being promoted to senior vice president and 3% to the executive committee, compared to men at 21% and 18% respectively.29
Women Continue to Hold Few Board Seats

According to a 2018 report, women held only 6% of board director positions.30

  • The consumer goods sector had the highest percentage at 36%, compared with the energy sector at just 3%.31
Women Have Made Significant Strides in Politics

In 2020, women make up 48.2% of the lower house (Chamber of Deputies) and 49.2% in the Senate.32

  • Globally, Mexico is ranked fifth for representation of women in parliament.33

PAY GAP

Women Experience a Gender Pay Gap, Including Those with Tertiary Degrees

In 2019, women were paid 18.8% less than men, based on median, full-time earnings—slightly more than the OECD average of 13.1%.34

In one report, executive-level women earned up to 22% less than their male counterparts.35

Tertiary-degreed women who work full time are paid 66% of men’s earnings, 9% lower than the OECD average.36

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Área de Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos, Shadow Report on Employment Discrimination Against Women in Mexico (June 2018).

Catalyst, Quick Take: Women in the Workforce – United States.

​Catalyst, Quick Take: Women in the Workforce – Global.

Catalyst, Does Your Organization Have a Climate of Silence? (June 9, 2020).

Emily Shaffer, Negin Sattari, and Alixandra Pollack, Interrupting Sexism at Work: How Men Respond in a Climate of Silence (June 9, 2020). (View in Spanish / En Español.)

 

​How to cite this product: Catalyst, Quick Take: Women in the Workforce – Mexico (June 30, 2020).

  1. CountryWatch, “Mexico: Country Review” (2020).
  2. CIA, “Mexico, People and Society,” The World Factbook (2020).
  3. CIA, “Mexico, People and Society,” The World Factbook (2020).
  4. CIA, “Mexico, People and Society,” The World Factbook (2020).
  5. World Bank Group, Mexico Gender Assessment (2019): p. 24.
  6. Educación, Secretaría De Educación Pública, Principales Cifras Del Sistema Educativo Nacional 2018-2019 (2019): p. 36.
  7. Educación, Secretaría De Educación Pública, Principales Cifras Del Sistema Educaativo Nacional 2018-2019 (2019): p. 36.
  8. OECD, Education at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators: Mexico (2019).
  9. OECD, Education at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators: Mexico (2019).
  10. World Economic Forum, The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 , Data Explorer, Mexico (2020).
  11. World Economic Forum, The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 , Data Explorer, Mexico (2020).
  12. Eduardo Bolio, Gabriela Garza, Valentina Ibarra, and Melissa Renteria, One Aspiration, Two Realities: Promoting Gender Equality in Mexico (McKinsey & Company, January 2019): p.29.
  13. Eduardo Bolio, Gabriela Garza, Valentina Ibarra, and Melissa Renteria, One Aspiration, Two Realities: Promoting Gender Equality in Mexico (McKinsey & Company, January 2019).
  14. Eduardo Bolio, Gabriela Garza, Valentina Ibarra, and Melissa Renteria, One Aspiration, Two Realities: Promoting Gender Equality in Mexico (McKinsey & Company, January 2019)
  15. The World Bank, “Labor Force Participation Rate, Female (% of Female Population Ages 15+) (Modeled ILO Estimate),” ILOSTAT Database (2019); The World Bank, “Labor Force Participation Rate, Male (% of Male Population Ages 15+) (Modeled ILO Estimate),” ILOSTAT Database (2019).
  16. The World Bank, “Labor Force, Female (% of Total Labor Force),” ILOSTAT Database (2019).
  17. Eduardo Bolio, Gabriela Garza, Valentina Ibarra, and Melissa Renteria, One Aspiration, Two Realities: Promoting Gender Equality in Mexico (McKinsey & Company, January 2019).
  18. Luis Gómez Romero and María de la Macarena Iribarne González, “Mexican Women Are Angry About Rape, Murder and Government Neglect – And They Want the World to Know,” The Conversation, August 21, 2019.
  19. Eduardo Bolio, Gabriela Garza, Valentina Ibarra, and Melissa Renteria, One Aspiration, Two Realities: Promoting Gender Equality in Mexico (McKinsey & Company, January 2019).
  20. International Labour Organization, Women and Men in the Informal Economy: A Statistical Picture (April 2018): p. 116.
  21. OECD, The Pursuit of Gender Equality: An Uphill Battle: How Does Mexico Compare? (2017).
  22. Sol Sánchez, “The Unequal Effects of Coronavirus, ” United Nations Development Programme (April 7, 2020).
  23. Monika Queisser, Willem Adema, Chris Clarke, “COVID-19, Employment and Women in OECD Countries,” VOX CEPR Policy Portal (April 22, 2020).
  24. Brigitte Fernandes, “Covid Crisis: Mexico Witnesses A Spike In Lockdown Violence, 1K Women Murdered In 3 Months,” RepublicWorld.com (May 3, 2020).
  25. Brigitte Fernandes, “Covid Crisis: Mexico Witnesses A Spike In Lockdown Violence, 1K Women Murdered In 3 Months,” RepublicWorld.com (May 3, 2020).
  26. Eduardo Bolio, Gabriela Garza, Valentina Ibarra, and Melissa Renteria, One Aspiration, Two Realities: Promoting Gender Equality in Mexico (McKinsey & Company, January 2019).
  27. Eduardo Bolio, Gabriela Garza, Valentina Ibarra, and Melissa Renteria, One Aspiration, Two Realities: Promoting Gender Equality in Mexico (McKinsey & Company, January 2019).
  28. Eduardo Bolio, Gabriela Garza, Valentina Ibarra, and Melissa Renteria, One Aspiration, Two Realities: Promoting Gender Equality in Mexico (McKinsey & Company, January 2019).
  29. Eduardo Bolio, Gabriela Garza, Valentina Ibarra, and Melissa Renteria, One Aspiration, Two Realities: Promoting Gender Equality in Mexico (McKinsey & Company, January 2019).
  30. Spencer Stuart,  2018 Mexico: Spencer Stuart Board Index (2019).
  31. Spencer Stuart,  2018 Mexico: Spencer Stuart Board Index, (2019).
  32. Inter-Parliamentary Union, “Mexico Chamber of Deputies,” IPU Parline (2020); Inter-Parliamentary Union, “Mexico Senate,” IPU Parline (2020).
  33. Inter-Parliamentary Union, “Percentage of Women in National Parliaments,” IPU Parline (May 2020).
  34. OECD, “Gender Wage Gap,” OECD Data (2019).
  35. Eduardo Bolio, Gabriela Garza, Valentina Ibarra, and Melissa Renteria, One Aspiration, Two Realities: Promoting Gender Equality in Mexico (McKinsey & Company, January 2019).
  36. OECD, Education at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators: Mexico (2019).