... '-' ....._-

LATIN AMERICAN

WOMEN

COMPARED

FIGURES

C OO IDI N A T O It S

TERESA. VAlDES

ENRIQUE GOMARIZ

I N COLL .... O lA f I ON W 1TH

Ninoska Damiano'f' ic • [acqueline GyslingSusana Levy • Hernán Pozo

WI T H T H E Sl'EClA l "'DV ISE Of

Arturo le ón, ECl AC Expert

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305\J I <Jlf Q. vJ

LIl... Amrnu . w_ C(lmp.llffd~

e 1'l'l'5 by IMnNIOcio la M..,.... 1-1..._ d. A_ 'iooa~d. bpoN 1M FlAC50. FKalt.l~ doa-;.. SaciaIa

Ú>I"f'W'l~"'"*'l1 1 AI~~

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/'ruowoj lrICI bound ...0011

ullll ""'""'"". WOI'O'.Ho C""' paffd FiI_m I Trt'N VaJdn E 1M EntiquP C".o.Nnz M.~. aliIlIor_ .n N-u o.--.:. Jaapiaoo

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»5 ,W,.356

CUT. '

81 8lI0TEC.~ ! h'Aé's~11'

\lon;a Eugtr'iI r l\n

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tASUTIl().'ll(: LIDio

SAUSlANOS. CHlLf

1 7 9MEG•.......A!\ol rol M",/Icol:

A.DOS DrSE"AOORES

~,,-.so "'glll'kI. Dor«tor............

SusaM lIv y .....-nsburg

~m Cf'l'd1

PROYECTOS CORI'OR.AnvosGoru.alo Cw1llo. .I.n 0..-.. and /'ldroCIlIda,,. drwgn.......Gulllo~

1IluIl'"~(WlS

CiIItl Ed,to. ' 1'rod1K...

C"" "'~1jtfI

Dnígr> oI llIf Snoes

.r.~ 01 ftdl ooIuIN 01 ,ht 5trwl M_jnn Latilool.me-.. .. 0 __ Npl _ ....... d~ 5f-iIlI __ La M_jtr .. CiItM.

pulllcWdbr lhe 1__10lit laMu,," 01 Sr- .an6 dtsopd byc..no. SornduI

TAllE Of C ONTENTS

Acknow1edgements 711)Researcbers aOO lnsntuñoos 8 H U l TM

Foreword 11Life Bxpectarcy llS

Introduction 11liealth Condiñons aOO Healrh Sysrems 117

Map of Latín Ameríca 14Mortalily and itsCauses 119Morbidity 119

17Reproductive Ht'ahh

130ECON OH ICS Pregnancy and DelíveryMaremal Mortality 131

Dome ñe Produoíon lO Aborden 132ExtemalSector l ' Birth Conuol 133Prices, wagesand Social Public Spending 28 Desrred Number oi Child ren 13'lncome Distribution ,lOO Poveny 31

L EGISl ATlO N IJSD EI10 GU PMY ]S

Pohlical Ríghts and Coesntutorel Cuarantes 137P"P"~1io<I J8 Family Law 1lOAgt'S of lhe Popnaton lO Peral Law 145Fmilily jj labor Law 150PhyskalOistriburion 18 Reproductive Rights 155Indigenous Populalion 51Marital Status 5<Family aOO Heeds ofHocsebold ro S OCIOPO LlTlC AL P ARTICIPATION

ANO A OVANCfH f NT Of W O Hf N 157

W ORK 6J Ctizenshíp 159Executive Branch 161

Perticípation in the Eronomy 66 legislatíve Branch li>!Employment Strccture 78 Judicial Branch 167Unemployment 87 Polítical Partes 169Working Hours,lOO Underemployment 90 Social Orgamzatore 171Employment ,lOO level of Education 91 Women's Organízations and Movements 177Wage Diffm nces 93 Popular wcmen's Organízations 178lníorrral Sector 9-1 Labor Umons 179

Peasant women's~,lniza tions 179Salí\'(' lndanOrganízat ions 180

EOUCATlO N 95 B\a(k WOffit'fl 180Human Righls Organaatons 180

Ilhlt'!'aCY Tbe Ft'mini<.t MOH'menl 181Schooling lOO women's Moveme1l1 182Prescbool Educaron 102 Tbe Regional Oomain 183Primary Education 103 Action Aimed al women 185Educationel Achif\'emenl ¡1lI (ovemmental Action 185women inSchool Iextbooks 105 Non-Covemmental Act ion 187Secordary Educalion 106 Action Aimed al víolence agilinst women 191Uni\'ersity Educaron 108 Action by the Firsl Lades 193Coverage provided by the Edurationa¡Sysrem 111 Action oflntematicnal Organeenons 19-1Women Ieecbers 112

REHARK5 ON MU HOOOlOGY 195

Notesend Symbols 199

WAGE OlFFERENCE5

I n Latín America -likealmostanywhere else in the world­

women eamsubstantielly less thanmen for theír work.The differencecan be- blamed onboth discrin unationbetween rhe twosexes inhiring forjobs (it isharder for women togelhigher,better paíd positionsl and onoutrightwagediscrimination forequal jobs.

Data onaggregale urbanemploymentsbows thatin the early1m women's wagesaveraged only72%. of men's.This amountwasevenbigger inthe rasoflhe total urbanworkers: women's wages reacbedonly two-thr rdsoímen's.

Therearesubstantialdifferencesinwage inequehtyfromenecountry loanother.In Bolivia, worncn's wagesaveraged only58.6%of thoseearnedbymenoInVenezuela, however, the

dispantyamounts lo805%, i.e.

women'swageswereonthe average2O\Iower than those earned by menoIneight cou nrries, average women'swageswereroughJy 25%lower thanmen's wages(Argentina, Chile,Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala,Honduras, Mexkoand Panamá). Inthree othercountries(Brazil,

Pa raguayand Uruguay), wcmen'swages wereapprcxímately 35%lower,

The trend evident inthedala is thatthe increasein women'seducat ionallevels isaccompaniedby hígher wageincreases thaninthe case of men onlyup toeompletionoí hígh schooleducation. Educationbeyond highschool is mueh more beneficial formen than for women, bcweve;because men gain access tohigherpositions and better paid jobs moreotten than women.

Genderand educa t íon-based wagedisparities remainedunehangedthroughoul the 19S0s, partícularly inurban áreas. although sorne counnies

shcwed trends towarda reduc tíon ininequality Nevertheless, thistockplacewitbin ageneral frameworkofreal wagedropsforthe populationasa whole.

Apositive legacy of the 19805 wasthedecrease in wage dilferences amongpecple with 13 ~'ears ofschooling andover, andamong those aged 15 re24,precisely the groups in whichwomen'sectívity reteswerethchighest.This faetshows howeducation reduces ínequalíties,espedally whenwomen gainaccesslopost-secondary educatíon orhigher levels,ashas been the case in

Latín Americe,

WAGE DIFfERENCES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN IN URBAN AAEAS

ACCORDING TO TEARS OF 5CHOOLlNG IN 5ELECTED COUNTAIE5

¡w_ .,-.....,•.~d_·.-. oalary)

e-., ,~ ' ObJ O-J J'Nn 4-6yu n 7_9 J'NI'S 1 ~ l l yun IJI IIIOP'I )'U" .

""- .......... -... .......... K ........

• '901 .,... .,... .,... ..... ..... .,... .,... LO'" .,... . '901 .,..."'GlNTWA ......) 705 '"OO<MA (...." SI' la'- H.' 8IJ ...,6AA2I. (79 "' _ '" "5 -50)- '" 51] 5U .... SU .., 511

~ 68.4 -CHU (.._901 m TlJ '''' 5S.lCOI.""'" ...", .... ~. 7f:J- 6l.' "J .n- "" 8)j '1.5 'u 6-1.0-- -COSTA"" (11.90) Ul 74.1 .... SS. ".' "'. ". IV ,.. ". H'- -cw.

~ ".-~ -OOHINKANA l8Gc- •.J 041 ... .-.

-=-.·9-~--~ .. - -GUAHP'W.J,1.. '"

TlJ ~~!- - "- ." tU " J-- ---64.'- 6l.J"""'"'" 1....'" TI.' 511 5l.8 "' SMEXICO 1,,·'" ~, 656 TI, 84.1 8ll " .SNICAAAGUA - -

. .- - sr¡ - - --PAN"'''''' (79"1 ... m ".' 496 SO ' 598 61.4 69.6 "'. Ha 70'PARAGUAY (.•..901 6l ' 49.1 SO.S 59.4 TI ' 59,0--- - -~,u (81.81)_ 53.7_ 61.1 ... ...- - -- - -- - - - - -URUGlJA' (81.'10) .., Hl 49.9 5J.1 55.1 5&.1 SI' U ] SI' 596 ".' 51.9_.. -- - 6U---¡f.6VENEZUELA (81.'10) 119 "'5 04 ' 13.6 n, 79,1 7U TI.' nl n,LATIN...MERO(5Inple~t) ." 7. 6 55J 5S.!--.E:!..- lOJ 67.] 69.1 6' J 761 61J n '_ (' , 0.... .. ......... _ ........-. n. ............. ...__...... 's ,--. .....__,

• oc..

"

INFORMAL URBAN

SECTOR

Womenare generally assumedte be engaged in theinformal

sector ingreater numbers than menoData from household surveys takenin the ear!y1990s shows thatthepercentage ofwomen whoareself­employed or worki ng indomesticemployrnent farexceeds the numberofrnen that areactive inthesametype 01 jobs.

The aboye ischiefly accou n~ed forbythe fact thatdomestic employmentsa typically women's occupation,which a large percentage ofemployed women are engaged in, butaboye all by the grealerdifficuhiesthal women face -as compared lomenoinfindingworkinthe formalcconorrucsector, due tothedemandsimposed by their household work.

13 countries. the percenlage was over50%(Bolivia,Gua lemala, Honduras,Paraguayand Uruguay). InSIX othercountries. II ranged from 45%lo50%(Argentina,Braztl, Chile,Colombia,Costa Ricaand Mexico).PanamáandVenezuela were theonlycot mtrieswhere the ratio ofwomen intheinformal sector wasunder45%.

Nonetheless, ilshould be kept inmind that whenever datamakes itpossible tecome closer toa morebroad ly accepteddefinition ofinformallabour, when italso indudesbosses and employees ofsmatlbusinesses with101\'capital intensity,gender-based disparities in the ratioofinformallyemployedpersonsdecreaseand, insorne cases, Iherelative importance ofintormalemploymentamong themen's labourforcecaneven exceed thatof!hewomen's labour force.

Employment indomestic service isstill very signiñcant in the región.Dalaonthe urban áreas of13countries indicates that. around 1992,domestíc employment accountedon

theaverage for 6% 01 employmeetamong bothsexes. Evidently, itssigntñcance inthe total womenEAPwas mueh higher.Only inonecountry -Mexko- did domestkemployees representless Ihan 10%ofa11 employed women (8%). Ineightcountries, the percentage was over15%, and it ranged from 10%to15%inthree otber countries.

,,-,URBAN DOME5T1C EMPLOYHENT IN 5ELECTED COUNTRIES.

ClI~CA 1980

'14~-

'19~16.1

11.8 f14.0 •,15.7 •!18.1

I16.4.,171 J27l ~17.0

11 .' j

""'-­......--7.'ss•••

7.' -----oc:u

"

""'-­......_.......

''''

''''""- - -''''

''''''''"" __1S 7-'.' --', ., _

''''__ ------.!!! ... 11.4

1m 14r . __--"".• ---''':1m 10 , + 4.0 -'

COIlntry

CHILE 1m 12,.COlOM~8IA,"-__-"","'_ _ 12, +

COSTARICA 1m _ 111 +

PANAIIA

PARAGUAY

URUGUAY

VE NEZlJEiA_ _

Women's heavy pa rlicipationininformalurbanjobs is evidenl whenexamininglhe percentage theyrepresenlofemployed individualsofbothsexes in this sector. In fiveoulof

Intheear1y1990s, Ovo outoíeveryfiveLatín American womenemployed in urban áreas workedindependentlyorathome as nonwage-eammgfamily members, orasdomestic emplcyees.However, thisaverage figu re differed sharply íromcountry te country Inrelatively lessdeveloped countries. thepercentagewas50%orhigher(Bolivia andGuatemala), whereas inArgentina,Chile, Uruguayand Venezuela ilamounted toapproximatety35%ofcverall women'sernployment. CoslaRica and Panama recorded theo westrates inthe regi ón. with25.5%and29.5%respectively.

•..

Toe educational situation

among the countries in theregíon isnot hornogeneous

andavailable information 01' thesubject also differs.Significantdiffetences arefound in lheenrollmeat ranosor coH'rageprovided by tbe educationalsystemsal dilferentlevels and,consequently,in lhe degree ofschooling ofthepopulationingeneral.Taking theseaspects intcconsideration, CubaSE'emS loenjoy themost advancedsituation in the región.The Cubaneducarionalsystemprovidesslmostfu ll coverage al the primary level,and highschooleducanon isavailable to most people. ln 1981, avery small percentageofthepopulationaged ayer 15had notreceived srhooling (2.72%) and, alpresenl, illileracy is low.Guatemalawasatthe otherend of the scale in1981,with Ihe worst educaticnalratio.Al the lime,almost halfthepopulation had no schooling wbüe40%of the populetíon aged over 15ísilliterate al present.

Considering tbe enrollment ranos orcoverage oí theeducational system,

there is a topgroupofccuntres withhigh coveragt> inprimary schooledueallon.doseloor betlt>r lhan90%,lhal haveexpandl?d cm'erage ofhighschooleducation loreaeh percenlagE'Sapproximaling or exeeed ing 50%oithe age group. Argentina.Chile,Cuba. Pa nama and Uruguay areinIhis group. \'\~lh somewhallowercoverage perrentagE'S,Cosla Rica aOOPeruaboform partoi this groupoicounlriE'S.Generali7at aocess loIhe

,.E D U e 'A

IION

~ )

school syslem is reñected intheed ucational structure ef the 15 yearsold agegroup.The uneducatedperrentageof the populalion in thesecountries isunder 10%, and ilhteracyratesarealso below I~.

Furthermore, incountries wherefheeducationsys temdeveloped earlier,ahigher ratio ofpecple with highschool educaticnor highereducaroncan beseen InCuba,over halí the

populationwas intbis category in1990. Intheearly nineües. half thepopulation inPanama and Peruwasinthiscalegory.

Asecond group is thatofcount riesthat have managed loprovidealmostfu ll roverage inprimary schooleducaticn, but rughschooleducaticnisevailable only loene third or lessoftheege group; that is, it isstill highlyehtist.The numberofuneducatedindividuals insuchcountries varíesfrom 10 lo15percent ofthepopulationaged 15and overowhileilliteracy retesare similar.I his wasthe situation inColombia, Paraguay,andVenezuela intheeighties.and inMéxicoand Ecuadorinthe nineties.Higherrowrage inMéxico andEruador ís recent, and therefore, theresultsarenot yetevident in theeducalionalslruetureoi lheolderpopulalion.

The lasl group ismadeupofcounlries wilheducational syste!Il5lhal provide insufficienl coverage,e\"en al Ihe basie le"'eLln IhisgroupIhe population wilh no schoolingreaehespercenlagesabove 16lJo, andIhesame occurswilhillileracy rates.

..

In the eighties, this group included ElSalvador, Guatemala and Honduras,and in thenineties, Bolivia, Brazil, theDorninican Republic,and Nicaragua.Educationalunderdevelopment inElSalvador isdrarnatic.In1990, netcoverage in ElSalvador was 71 %forprimary sehooland 15%for highschool, while the illiteracy rate was27%. InGuatemala the figures wereevenworse, wi than ilI ileracy rateof40.7%that yea r.

Theeducationalsiluation ofwomenis notdirectlyrelated to theeducationaldevelopmentof thecountries.Althoughcountries with amoredeveloped educationalsystemtend toshow a higher degree ofequality, the relationship isnot linear.Peru, forexarnple, whichcurrentlyhasa highly deveJoped educationalsystem, isthecountry wi th thehighest levelofdiscriminationagainst women, because the systemishighlysegmented in lernally.Differences between menand womeninPeru in termsofiI1 iteracy, lackofeducation, wornen's presence inhighereduca tion, among others,arethehighest in the region.Discrimination in nurnbers isalsoev ídent in the school curriculum,since Peruvian lextbooks showoneofthe lowest percenlages ofwomen. InNicaragua,onthe otherhand, withan undeveloped educalionalsyslem,the figurestend lo favorwomen.And in Honduras, another countrywith belated educa tionaldevelopment, there is a rela tivelyfaireducationalsystem.

Significanl progresshas beenmadeinthe last twodecades in terms of the

sexdistributionof the coverageprovided by the school system.Themost outstanding achievementsarefound inwornen's access to highered ucalion, since this levelshowed thebiggest lag in1970.Colombia hasmade the most signi ficant progress,as its fema le enrollmentrosefrom27%in 1970lo51%in1990. AIthoughwomen in the nineties ha ve moreeducational opportuníties, inmanycountries their participation at the topofthesystemisstill much lower thanit is for menoIn preschool, primaryand secondary education, enrollmentpercentagesbysexare practicallyidenlical. Nevertheless, women'senrollment inprimary educationtendstobeslightly lower than tha lofmenoThis situation is reversed insecondary educationwhere, inseveralcountries, percenlagesofenrolled women reachslightlyover50%.

With regard tocoverage, thepresehool levelshows thegreateslgrowth,sinceenroll rnent increasedsix-fold at the regional level. Thisgrowth is linked, first, withincreased dema nd resulting from thegrowi ng numberofwomen lookingfor paid work, and second,with theneed to improve the levels al whichchildrenenter theschool system. Sofar, lhis last factor seems lopredominate, as an in-depth analysisshows that thecoverage provided bypreschool educa tion is significantonly ingroups of five years oldchildrenwhere the figures for theagegroupareclose to 60%.Thisis not the case with childrenunder five wherecoverage isevenmore limited,

96

Sinceequalaccess to the schoo!systern is relatively recent inmanycountries, theeducalionalstructureofthepopulationover fifteenyea rs oldstillshows evidence of discriminationagainstwomen. Illiteracy rates arealways more unfavorable as faraswomen areconcerned; thesame istrueamong the populationwithnoschooling. The fi gures get worsewhen the area of residence isconsidered. For example, ruralwomen are very backward as regardsed ucation.The moststriking data inthis respect is found inPeru, whereurban-ruraldiffere nces areconsiderable asare thosebetweenmenand women: the illi teracy rateamong ruralwornen reaches 45.6%,whereasamong ruralmenitis 10.4%,and among urban men itonlyamounts to2.2%.

Despitewornen's progress inimproving lheir access toeducation,theschool syslemhelps to reproducethe traditional roles played by menand women.Thisis c1earlyevident inthe professionalchoices Olade inseconda ry and highereducation. lnsecondary educa tion, women tend tochoose. to agreater extent,professionalcareers that signal theend of their education. Instead, mostmen chooseageneral academicCOlme inpreparationforuniversity.In professional highschooleducation,men concentrate in industrial careerswhilewomen gravitale towardservice-relaled careers.

In higher ed ucation, women showatendency to studyservice-rela tedcareerssuchas professions in fieldslike heaIth or education. Engineering

- - --- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

and farming arecareers chosenprimarilybymenoAlthough feminineand masculine areas can be identified,thereare severalcareers which, inrnostcountries, haveequallydistribu tedenroll ments, a fact thatindicares the diversityof professionalpositions occupied by wornen atpresent. These are careers likemathematics, compulerscience,naturalscience, law, managementand services.

Thedistribution ofenrollment byfield ofstud varíes from ene countrytoanother, and ome distributionscan beidentified as moreequitablethan others, dependingonthenumber ofcareers with relativelyequalenrollmenlbetweenmenandwornen.Cuba, Honduras, lexicoand icaragua are the mostequitablecountries in this respecto Panama,however, whichhas a highpercentage ofwornenin highereducation, hasa moresegmenteddislribution.

The educalional systemreproducestraditional gender roles, nol only inthe departures from the syslem, bulona daily basis through the impliedpedagogical discour e.Adetailedanalysisofschool textbooks carriedoulin variouscountries repeatedlyshowed women in a lower profilewithin thesystem. Whenwornendoappear in textbooks, theydosoprimarily in thehome andonly inaconsiderably smaller proportionoutside the home.

A11houghpedagogical discourseseems tomake men stand out,women's experience ÍJl primary

education appears lobe moresuccessfu! than that ofmenoAlI thecountries record lower repetitionrates fo rwomenin primaryeducation compared totheirmalec1assma tes.

Regarding thepercentage ofwomenin leaching, there issegmenlation bysex ÍJ1 all the countries: women'sparticipation ishígherat the bottomofthe educational syslemandlowerin the upper stages ofeducation.Although percentages varyfrom onecountry toanother, thetrend is fo rwornen's participa tion to bealmosttota l ÍJ1 preschool education, reachingmajoritypercenlages inprimaryeducation -rough1yabouI70%·,around halfinsecondary educa tion,and less thanonethird inuniversities, Variation bycountry arenotdirectlyconsistenl with the

development of the educationalsystems alany levelof the schoolsystem, Therearecountríes whereteaching is aneminently feminineactivity, like Argentina, icaragua,Brazil orCosta Rica, andcountrieswhere there are fewer womenteachers, like Gualemala, PeruandMexico.

Inthe fu ture, it ispossiblethatleachingwill be mostly carriedout bywomen, since rnost ofthestudentsenrolled in teachingcareersin all thecountries arewomen.

97

'"

The lack oíequality forwomenisworse among rural women. Peru hastbe mostextreme figures in thísrcs pect, with anilliteracy rolleof2.2~

amongurban men aro 45.6'1. amongrural women The situation issimilarinBolivia, wíth a rateof3.8\ forurban menand49.lfI.for ruralwomen.This trendistheoppositeinBrazil and Nicaragua,wherein1990literacy tatesamongwomen in thcruralpopulation were higherIhanamong men.

Ethnic affiliation isanolher importan!factorofinequity.lncoentries wbeeinformation brokt'l1 do.....n by ethnicgroup isavailable, iIIiteracy amongIhenative Indian population ismuchhígher thanthe national average,andil iSl'Specially acuteamongnativt'Indian women. lnGuatemala andParaguay, countries wilhan importantnative Indianpopulation,oolyonequarler oflodian\'lomenknow how10 read and write.ln Panama thefigure iscutalmosl byone halí.

the regi ón.Only Uruguayhas a ruralillüeracy rolle below 10%.The othercomtries show percentsges tbat, inmost caSE'S, amount toover 2O'l oreven higher.The worst situation sfound,once egain. inGuatemalawhcre, in 1990. half theruralpopulation was illiterate.

GUATEI'W.A 1911--PANAI1A 1990

PARAGUAY 1911

..

ILLl T ERACY RATE, ACCOROING TO SEX , AHONG THE NATIVE

POPULATION OF GUATEMALA, PANAHA ANO PARAGUAY

O¡fft'rt'ncl'S insidf' !he countriesareespecially significanldepeOOing onthf' place oí rrsidrnce. llIiteracy inrural an>as rontinuestobe amajorproblcm inmost ofIhecountnesin

In thiscontext,women's illiteracytates elso dropped. Mostcountriesshowa relative balance in the retespersexoNevertheless, inallthecountries, with the excepñon ofCostaRica, therearemoreílliterate womenthan meno Peru isoreofthc countrieswith the biggest dffererces betweenmenand .....omen: women's iIliteracyralf'S arefour times higher than thoseoi mf'l\ . Bolivia is anolht'rcase, whmlherf' art' lwicr as many i\lileralt'womenas mt'n.Othercounlrieswithimporlant difft'rt'nct'S betweenwomrn and ffif'n arr GuatemalaandEl Salvador.

Honduras,lOO El Salvador. Althoughtbese counmes still showconsiderable signsof illilf'racy,lht'yhave reduced the problem byabout16 pE'rrenlagf' poínts.The reverse isthe rase inColombia, whichMSnotprogressed et the seme paceas theother Latín American rountries. Thisisillustratcd by the factthatColombiadropped from the síxthplacein1970lo the twelfth in1990. ThE' way theproblem has bren tackled inGuatemala has not answered theneedsof itspopula tioncilher,anditcontinúes 10 be therountry wíth thehighest illiteracy rate intheregión,

Between these 1W0 extremes. thereerethree groups ofcountries:alCountries wit h illiterecy retesbelow10'1, i.e. Argentina,Chile,Cuba.Costa Rica,Paraguay, Vff\('zuí'la andUruguay; b)Countril'S with illiteraeyral l'S bt'lwffill O% olnd 20%, i.e.Bolivia, Brazil,Colombia,DominicanRepublic, Ecuador, Mt'xioo, Panamaand Peru;andel Countri t>s when>more than20%ofthe population agt'dowr15(or ]O) is illilerate. i.t'. ElSalvador, Honduras, :\licaragua andoa! lhfht'adofthis group,Gualfmala.

Althoughtht'number ofillileraleproplE' dropped in,111 thf' counlries inthe Il'gionbt>twCt'n 1970 and1m , thE'rvolutionisunequal. Sornecountnf'Shavr moldr aconsidt'rable rfforl forthrir populalion lo Ií'arn torrad andwrilt'.This is lhrcasrof Peru, whichin lhf' last two dffadf'S rrducrd its

illitrracyratf' by Iwolhirds, movingfrom thf' lWf'lfth place among thecounlries in thr n>gionup tothf'righth.Significantdfonshave ,lIsobren set'n in Bolivia, :\licaragua,

IlllTERACY

I nthe las twodecades, illiteracyhas fallenccnsiderably in the

región asa dircct resu tt of thegreatercoverage providcd by the basic schoolsystern and literacy campaigns.Thisprogress, nevertheless. isexpressed indiñerent ways amongthecountries,lOO in the counlrics themselves.Differences from orecountry toanotber fluctuare bctween those thatheve practical1y solved rhe problemlike Uruguay, that has anillitetacyreteof3.8%,and Guatemala. whichisthe mostbackward country inthisaspect, with anilliteracy reteof -W.7%ofits pcpulationover 15 yt>arsoíd.

ILLlTERACY RATES. ACCOROINCi TO SEX ANO ZONE. 1970 -1990

A..'~P

""

14.1

1.1 14.611 10.9

U 37JlB 111

15,4 50.0145 45.6115 )1.55.4 23655 10.9l.6 16.39.0 318

6.55J l.6

"15,1

,4>11.0

5.1l O

14.6al..

_-=-'--.- H"'_ -=--_ -=~-I

1.'.,4.1

'""'la.lH

'"lO'U

"180

11612>

"'13

.'--_ _ c._---''-_'-_--'''_~_~_'.•

".".".

BOlMA

CHI"

QJ'"

ARGENTINA

DOMJNICAN R.

ECUADOR

ELSALVADQR

MEXICO

PANA'"

PARAGUAY

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URUGUAY

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population with no schoolingamounts lo23.7\ . íe dccble the rol lefar lhe malepopuIation.

Among !he population with edvancededucatien diff",,1lCl'S betseen meo andwomen are less thanamong the popula­tion with noscbooling.Al lhe higherlevel. the mosl outstandingdiscrimina­tion against women occurs inMexiro.Butthere are also rounlries where the sit­ualion is reversed, i.e, tbe female papu.Ial:ion withuruversítysudesisgrearerthan tbe male popalaticn. This ísthe caseinParaguaylI982land Parama lIm!.

As inotherarcas, the educational levelsoffbe natívelndianpopulation are muchlower lhanthose of!he general popcla­tion More than90% oftheQuechua-andAymara-speaking people in Bolivia hadno schooling in 1988,and tbe maprity of!he small group that had geined iKU'S510

!he sdlooI ')'1"'" had onIy received pri­m.uy education. The situalion was slight­Iy hett" inParaguay. in1982 A1'rough!he t'ducaliooal ...1of!he Guarani por­ulation was Iower lo thdt oflhe Spanish­speaking population,78.71J had receivedprimary schooling asa resuJIofnationalefforts lobring!heGuarani populationinlo theschoolsyslem,

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69.9 7&7171 11

1) o,o-.-:=-~~==~~1~0__ 100,0

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lOUVIA (I'Jll8) (I)....""'o"""""" - -"'''''",T"

PAAAG\lAY (I9ll2¡ (JJ....-~--

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EOUCATlONAL LE V ELS O f T H E INOICENOUS POPULATION. BY

LANCUACE IN BOLIVIA ANO PARACUAY

Although the differences between meoand w'omen are minor in most rountrles,tbe gereralterdency lsfor worren lo

ha\'e a kw.'erleve! aleducalion lhanmmThe highest degreo of disalmina­!ion is found in tre population "'i!h noschooling, and il becomesmore moder­ate wilhin theschool syslemi!self.Regard ing population thallacks school­ing entirely, the country with !he largesldiffercnces is Bofivia, where lhe female

Taking intoacrounl merely tbe popula­tion wíth noschcoling.the mosI back­wardrountries are Guatemala 147,9%),

El Salvador 130.2' 1and Nicaragua(27.7%),Amore moderaredegree ofbackwardness ispresent in Bolivia,Brazil, the Dominican Republic,Uruguay and Venezuela, where the pop­ulañon thatlacks schooIingflurtuatesaround 15%t0 2O%of the groupover 15yemold. \Vhen !he population withadvarced education isexamired. itísevident that in mostccuntries ildoesnct exceed 5%oi theage group.Theercepüons lo thscase are Bolivia,Ecuador, México. Panamáand Petuwhee pt'rct'Tl tages of the populationwith advanced studiesare cver 11%.

.100 in1989, Brazil.SCHOOllNG

Available data on the educationalattainmenlofthepopulation is

dissimilar with regard lodates. In halfthe countries, fhe iniormation referstotheeighties whereas in thcother half itcorrespondstothe nireties.Nevertheless, lhe dala If¡x'aledlyshowsthat mosl coentries inthe region haveapyramidal educationalstructure withrcgard te the population over15yearsold. Ibe structureíscharecíerized by abread base ofpeople wbo merely havebasiceducanon or lC5s; a much smallergroupwho possess asecondary educa­tiorranda small vertex fcrmedbytbosewho baveuniversity studies.

Cuba was thecountry withthe highl."sleducation levels alreadyin1981 ,wherethe p)Tamid is in\'E'rted, and Ihus lhepopulation wilhserondary studies islargerlhan !heollt' that onIyhasprimary studies.The remaining coun­tries can be das.sifiedinto threE.- groups.Thefir.;t ismoldeupofcounlTies wilhthe highest educationlevels, where pro­pIe withprimaryedueation or less num­berbclween5()%and 65%oflhepapula­tion. Chile and Colombia k'ere in trusgroup in tht> eighties,. and Panama,Pero,Boli\ia,Costa Rica. Eruador and ~1roro

k'ere inth.is group in the nineties.TheS«1lIld group isfonnt'd by countrie5....ithIo"''er [evels ofschooling. wherethe population wilh primary schooJingor less reachespercentages around 66%and 80%. Al thebeginning oflheeighlies, lhese counlrles ineluda!Argentina, Paraguay,and Venezuela,and in the nineties,Nicaragua and lhe[A)minican Republie.The third group.lhal is, countries wilh lhe "" orst Ie\'els alschooling. where more lhanBO%of thepopulationh.l, prim.uy sdlooIingorless were,in 1980and 1981, ElSah'ador and Guatemala, n.'5~\'eIy.

100

PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTlON OF POPUlATION 15 YEARS OlD AND OVER, BY EDUCATIONAl

ATTAINHENT ANO BY SEX, lAST AVAllABlE YEARIII- , •""""" Hizhnt Ioe'fel ~nt<I - 100 -

No W;orrflerecl~~~td ÚIIIlpIltld"- 1'""W1t4 "'7fd. ~ RC~ ~lid. ecLllI ~t4 - m -

AAGENTl"" ...._.'" au 1J,,,.,, w_ U '" llS U - ~ -....

llOlMA ...._. IH 4l~ '" - ~ -(1m) w_ n1 ~ 1 . 1 ' lB.... 107 ~5 .8 IU~~--

BAA2I. ...._. '" ". u 55 • • •(1 989.Toaf) w_ 'l1 S" U S'.... - - -·-CHU .... _. U Sl5 7.1 - ...'''''' w_ 7.' su II 'OIM'.... (1" 1,1 5-.1 +)

- -COl""'" ....- "' '84 ns U(198S) w_ "' '84 lO' ...... IIB JO ' m lO •COSTA~

...._.SJ 1JS lIJ '" .. -

(1m 12·' w_ 58 1JS lO7 11 ..... " n . ll.l '" m -aMA

...._.II ' lO III Sl

(1'!81) w_ " '" lJ' -s.... - ~ -- -

JX>1O'OCAN • ...._- lB ,.. ,.. 10,1

(19''1) w_ 17.1 190 '0 " - ~ -.... "1 2U 191 100

ECUADOR ...._- '" 1J.9 ) 1.2 17.1 "J(I"'l w_ I~J II I lO ' ". 11< ·-.... .. 1L6 JU 17.2 1],2

B.. SAl.VAOQR 80ltI 'toes JO.] "" II --·- j(1980. 10>-) w_ UI 58 ) " w_ ...H~

COSTARICA ;---- ,(1992, 12 alld+)GUATtMAl.< Ilol"sexes 41.9 19) 101 7.' ae lO 1(1981) w_ ~. 248 " 1.0 lO Jl

H~ I--- - • JHOOCO llo\lI _~. 11.1 .., 7" 11.1 •(1 991, 12+) IU lU 10.5

- 100 - jw_ ~7 8.... 11.1 ~51 "' It• ti- ~NlCAAAGUA ...._. 21.1 IU 118 III U .. - m - §(1m ) w_ v. 16.2 llJ 1l.8 1I).l lB.... V, lO ' '" '" .. S.J ~PANANA ...._. U 9.7 lO' 101 1IJ lIJ - ~ - f(1990) w_ 10.2 " ". 101 214 lB 1.... 81 10.1 B.O '" lO' IOJ · ~ - ;---- •PAAAQJAY ...._. 106 Sl5 JOl 1.7 .!(19112) w_ 111 ns IU 80.... 1.' M' 10.0 7.S · .- i-----"'u ....- lJ '" llJ 17.1 i

(1991192. 6+) w_ 9.7 4l) )1, 15.7 - O - I.... lB '" )55 ItS w_ ...lOUGUAY ...._. so 51.9 ,U 161

HEXlCO(1" 1, 1] -.1 .)

(1'!85) w_ 51 S" '<J 15.2

1.... '8 su l<J '""""'"'" ....- 151 ~8 n• 41 . ;::.., -- I(1'!81) w_ 1 7 ,~ ~ . " 0 4l -....,-.... _ '21__ 59 ' ni " .=-----*l-

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101