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Economic Autonomy

Total work time

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Total work time is the sum of paid work time and unpaid work time. Paid work refers to work done for the production of goods or services for the market and is calculated as the sum of time devoted to employment, job search and commuting. Unpaid work refers to work done without payment and develops mainly in the private sphere. It is measured by quantifying the time a person spent on self consumption work, unpaid domestic work and unpaid care for their own home or to support other household work.

Analysis

A key element to analyze gender gaps in well-being issues, is the use of time and the distribution of unpaid work within households. 
In all the countries of the region for which data are available, the time women dedicate to unpaid work is higher than the time spent by men on the same activities. This shows that despite the growing participation of women in the job market, there has not been a real compensation with a greater male participation in domestic and unpaid care work within households.
In this sense, the overload of women working hours, act as an obstacle to an equal participation in the labor market as well as to an access to economic resources that could in fact provide them more autonomy.