PER CAPITA GDP: ANALYSIS OF ITS DISTRIBUTION BETWEEN WOMEN AND MEN IN BRAZIL, 1991-2015

ABSTRACT

The issue of the invisibility of women’s work is one of the oldest themes brought by feminism to the social sciences and is referred to as an attempt to reinterpret the concepts of paid/unpaid work. In general, women participate unequally in the labor market. The data show that women, on average, receive lower incomes than men, occupy fewer management positions, have higher turnover rates in the labor market, are concentrated in only a few industrial sectors, and are mainly allocated to the services and informal sectors. At the same time, they are mainly responsible for the care tasks related to the reproduction of life, defined by the sexual division of labor, a social and cultural convention that influences access and opportunities for advancing in work environments. Given this reality, this study estimated the difference in per capita income for women compared to men in Brazil for the years 1991 and 2000-2015. The results show that Brazilian women increased and improved their participation in the labor market, managing to increase their income in the period. However, despite having an average schooling higher than that of men, they still have a per capita income of just over 50% of men’s per capita income. This shows that this inequality goes beyond the possible justification of qualification difference.

KEYWORDS:
GDP; female per capita GDP; per capita income; gender and macroeconomics