Population and changes in Gender Inequalities in Latin America

The Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region has experienced a process of economic and social change that has enabled the reduction of the gender gap in some areas and reversed it in others. Demographic and urban transitions have enabled women to live longer and to have fewer children. They have surpassed men in education and reduced the gender gap in the labor market, although various forms of occupational segregation and wage discrimination remain. As elsewhere, the region has made advances in its epidemiological transition, but external causes of death have affected men much more than women, resulting in a growing surplus of women. Social achievements in the region have been reflected in higher levels of female participation in decision-making arenas, although parity is still far-off. The objective of this paper is to analyze recent reductions and reversals of the gender gap in the LAC region in the health, education, labor market and decision making arenas. This type of analysis is crucial for updating the debate on issues of gender and sustainable development, as set out in the ICPD Plan of Action (1994), Beijing Plataform (1995), Millennium Development Goals (2000) and The future we want (Rio + 20, 2012).