A study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) found that the federal government’s Bolsa Família program does not reduce women’s participation in the workforce, except for those with children up to six years old.
In this case, the job market finds less female participation, due to responsibilities at home, domestic chores and caring for the family.
Also according to the study, women spend an average of ten hours more per week on unpaid domestic care than men.
The study also shows that the presence of women in the workforce is important for the country’s growth. To give you an idea, if the difference between the participation of men and women in the labor market fell from 20 to 10 percentage points, by 2033 the country’s growth could increase by half a percentage point.
And they are responsible for managing the money that comes into the house. Almost 85% of families that receive Bolsa Família are headed by women.
It is their young children who end up taking these women out of the job market.
According to the IMF, half stop working within two years of the birth of their first child. The solution, according to the research, is to expand access to daycare, encourage paid work and resolve wage differences.
