Sonia Agurto

FIDEG, Nicaragua

Nicaragua’s Job Market

    Ms. Agurto stated that although historically, men and women have always participated in Nicaragua’s job market, until recently, the economic contribution made by women remained undervalued. Men have more advantages than women in the job market; the latter have fewer employment opportunities and therefore higher levels of unemployment and underemployment. Women are more frequently found working in economic sectors that have low production levels and offer low salaries such as the trade and service industries.

    Between 1950-90, there was a relatively low increase in the number of women in the economically active population. According to a 1995-96 study conducted by FIDEG, women represent 42% of the nations economically active population, 47% live in urban areas while 36% are in rural communities.

    The employment rate has increased steadily in the past seven years as evidence that the workforce is being used efficiently. In 1992, the employment rate in Nicaraguan cities along the south coast of the Pacific was 43%; this figure rose to 50.3% in 1998, an increase of 7.3% . The employment rate is higher among adults aged 26 to 45. However the number of working children, youth and women has also increased.

    Ms. Agurto added that underemployment is another way of disguising unemployment. It is not enough that people are employed, the quality of the job also counts. Underemployment in Nicaragua has been on the rise in recent years resulting in lower quality jobs. In 1992, 22% of the active population was openly unemployed, this figure dropped to 13% in 1998. Approximately 75% of the active population is underemployed.

    The informal sector has grown significantly given the changes in the economy. There are fewer opportunities in the formal job market but the material needs of families continue to grow. This has widened the gap in employment between the formal and informal sector. According to data by FIDEG, in 1985, 52% of the active population was employed in the informal sector; this figure increased to 68% in 1995-96.

    Ms. Agurto added that one of the most obvious reasons for the growth of the informal sector is the introduction of drastic policies aimed at reducing the size of the government. It is estimated that in the 1990s, approximately 200,000 people were laid off as a result of cutbacks in the public administration sector and the armed forces.

    Two main factors contributed to the creation and increase of much smaller economic units: a deliberate public policy to reduce the size of the public administration, and the fast opening up of the commercial industry that changed the employment structure in Nicaragua’s private sector.

   The employment structure in the informal sector in cities along Nicaragua’s Pacific coast include:

• a decrease in the self-employed active population (in 1992, it represented 62% of the employed and in 1998, it dropped to 44%).
  
• the high number of jobs in the informal sector, especially in trade, has remained virtually unchanged (62% in 1992 and 61% in 1998.)

    Nicaraguan women make a significant contribution to the economy both in terms of productivity and reproduction. According to the FIDEG, in 1995 and 1996, women contributed 40% to the economy, in addition to the work they do in the home. If given its full value, work done at home represented 23% of the GDP in the 1995-96.



Sonia Agurto is with FIDEG in Nicaragua.