Women’s Day: In which economic activities do Peruvians work and how many are heads of households?

This March 8 marks the International Women’s Day and in Peru, different activities will be carried out at the national level to continue the search for gender equality for all Peruvian women, who number 16,999,000 and represent 50.4% of the total population of the country. Currently, many of them are working and some are even heads of households.

According to recent information from National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) and according to the results of the National Household Survey (Enaho)women work in different economical activitiesbe services where they are found the most: 38%. 25.9% do so in agriculture, fishing and mining, while 27.5% in commerce, 8.1% in manufacturing and 0.6% in construction.

Now, the most remarkable is in the following results. According to the Enaho, 35.9% of households in Peru are headed by women (financially paid by them). In addition, depending on the type of household, it can be said that 54.1% of female-headed households are nuclear. That is to say, composed of the mother, the father and the children.

On the other hand, the country’s economic difficulties due to the political instability of recent years have forced thousands of Peruvian women to find another job in order to cover their monthly personal or family expenses. In this sense, women have chosen to have another job and it has been possible to know that they are 16.8% of Peruvians. That is to say, 17 women out of 100 who work in an economic activity have a second job.

Work, perseverance, effort and creativity have enabled thousands of Peruvian women who work in an economic activity to do so independently, with the highest number in Peru: 41.8%. While 41.4% are dependent workers (they collaborate in companies with a fixed monthly salary). Thus, we can conclude that 42 women out of 100 who work in an economic activity are independent.

Despite the low number of women in the construction industry, many of them are preparing to get a job in this field. For example, in 2022, more than 200 women from different regions of Peru participated in the formation of the Pavco Wavin Plumbing Club, where they learn the basics of plumbing and installation through training.

In these trainings, participants learn to recognize the materials and tools used, to distinguish the characteristics of pipes and connections, and to identify the main connections of the water, drainage or electricity system. Women who wish to enroll in the Electrical Installations from Scratch for Beginners course can do so from the following link. The course issues a certificate.

According to UN data, 2.7 billion women do not have access to the same job opportunities as men. Therefore, there is a big gap to be filled and continuous work is being done to provide more opportunities for women, even in sectors that we sometimes do not imagine.