Women, The Family And Health
Mrs Gracia Burgardt de Roitman
I will describe the essential aspects of women’s health in Argentina.
In the area of inequality and discrimination , we have inherited the conditioning of the past which inhibits women from realizing their potential. When we speak of women, of whom are we speaking? For poor women it is lack of access to the system and education which block their way.
Argentina as a whole has many differences across the vast country, so there are different needs and issues. In the area of life expectancy, urban and the areas of the northwest are very different. Overall, women live seven years more than men, average of 76 years.
Commonalities for Argentinian women include: The family is an important environment for women. The family has undergone major changes in the last 50 years and the trends are accelerating. The traditional family format is changing and redefining itself. The size is of a nuclear family is still around 3.8members. Two parents and two children is most typical. Over 10% are living in one-person homes. There are more “assembled”, that is blended households. There are now complex combinations of marriages, remarriages and their collective children. The evolution of the woman as the head of household is growing. Single mothers, close to 1 in 4 are the breadwinners. 40% of women are actually heading households with men working outside the country.
Argentina has been characterized by excellent education. The statistics of 1991 show literacy for women higher in the older population., but lower than men in the younger population. Generally, the young have greater access to education. In primary school, males and females are about equal. At high school, females have a higher rate. Post-high school, women have a higher presence in education overall. However, men have a higher level at University and women in the professional schools. Women are still choosing traditional fields of study, with few women in Math and Sciences.
Speaking of the work environment of women: briefly, the situation is that women work outside the home as well as the work done within the home. Women have massively entered the work market since World War Two. In the 1950s and 1960s, 21% were working outside the home. Now that figure is 36% overall and the figure is 40%+ in the urban areas. Women actually do a high level of productive work and are not given credit Women have had a very important role in saving the financial basis of families in the last economic crisis in Argentina.
In the 1950s women only worked before marriage. Now the graph for women looks very much like that of a man. In short, women are making up for the unemployment men are suffering. The new employment peak is married women between 40 and 49 entering the workforce to augment family income.
Eva Perron helped fight for women’s rights and for women to have a political voice. A quota system was established in the Camara de Diputados. Women hold 69/257 or 27% of the seats. A new law in 1991 has increased the partipation of women in the political process. A legal election requires 30% of the candidates MUST be women. I will be happy to discuss this issue with you personally during our breaks or lunchtime.
Last Modified: June 05, 2010