Women, labour market and childcare in Argentina at the turn of the millennium

Silvina Ramos Margarido, FLACSO Master Student

During the nineties women incorporated into the labour market in Argentina more than ever before, as can be seen in the sharp increase of the female activity rate. There were -and still are- sociocultural as well as economic factors that explain this phenomenon. Among them are cultural factors, the increasing unemployment of householders and the raising number of monoparental families sustained by women. Facing this accentuated tendency we wonder about the facilities that women with small children have when they go to work or when they look for one. We focus our investigation on women with less than six years-old children, when school is not mandatory. This topic has not been extensively explored. Women's role in urban areas of this country is changing from a previous dominance of domestic and reproductive tasks. Their entrance into the labour market has been segmented in professions linked to health care or education and those sectors with enough schedule flexibility that allows them to cover the double task of taking care of their children and their work outside of their own house.