Gender inequality in Chile
The inequality between men and women is an existing problem worldwide, although there are countries in which it is less evident. According to Jáuregui, in Chile, "men earn on average 23.5% more than women per hour of main occupation", a difference that increases according to the levels of schooling of both sexes. Díaz, quotes the United Nations Development Program report and points out that “the sixties Chileans obtained on average half of the remuneration of men” and establishes that “in the following fifty years there would have been a systematic increaseof the female salary in relation to the masculine ".
During the course of the years it has been intended to work in this area, with public policies that slowly integrate men and women. In this context, in June 2009, Law No. 20348 that regulates the right to equality in remuneration between men and women who perform the same work was promulgated.
In this way, a phenomenon that significantly affects the lives of people is raised, opening the way to an analysis that allows describing its most relevant aspects and a deep reflection with respect to it.
Conceptual framework
Within the investigation, different variables will be analyzed, once the 2017 CASEN survey data is obtained, so it is pertinent to make a definition of these for their future understanding.
Sex: Nominal type variable, by which research is governed by the following definition: “Biological characteristics that define human beings as a man or woman. These sets of biological characteristics tend to differentiate humans as men or women, but they are not mutually exclusive, since there are individuals who have both ”.
Region: As the aforementioned variable, this is of a nominal type and the definition that will occupy within the investigation is the one offered by the SAR: “Each of the great territorial divisions of a nation, defined by geographical, historical and social characteristics,and that can be divided into provinces, departments, etc."
Autonomous decil: ordinal type variable, defined as:
“Tenth part or 10% of households ordered ascending according to the autonomous per capita of the home, where the first decil (decil i) represents the poorest 10% of the homes and the tenth decil (decil x), the10% richer in households ".
School level: the level of schooling that a person reaches relevant during this research, due to the theory by which this is governed and that seeks to explain the salary differences between men and women. It will be measured as an ordinal variable and its definition is “average number of school years approved in formal education institutions at the garden of infants, primary, secondary, basic general education, high school, university superior, superior non -university and postgraduate24 years and older ".
Autonomous income: scalar type variable, corresponds to the "income obtained by people in their occupation for salaries and salaries, monetary and species".
Profession or trade: It should be noted that, within the data collected in the 2017 CASEN survey, there are a wide variety of professions or trades in which the people surveyed work. This is measured as a scalar type variable and its definition, according to the Spanish Language Dictionary of the SAR, is “employment, power or trade that someone exercises and for which it receives a remuneration”.
Bibliographic review
According to Díaz, there are various theories that explain or try to explain why the salary gap between men and women. The author distinguishes between the neoclassical approach (human capital theory, compensatory differential theory, statistical discrimination theory) and alternative paradigms (institutional approach, radical analysis, non -economic or feminist theory). It should be noted that other authors mention other paradigms or theories, such as Rodrigo that mentions the sociological paradigm of social reproduction, and Valdivia and Pedrero that expose about the theory of segmented labor markets.
This research seeks to explain the causes of salary differences with neoclassical paradigm, specifically with human capital theory.
Human Capital Theory
The neoclassical paradigm, says Rodrigo, “has been concerned about productivity determinants. However, his contemporary explanation of the salary difference appeared first with the theory of human capital ”. The author continues to explain that the theory indicated postulates that “the knowledge that people have determined their individual productivity and, therefore, make up a kind of capital that, like the possession of any physical capital, can be profitable in the market”. This theory serves to get into conflict once we review the database of the CASEN survey, since the results in the amount of income received by men and women could be different, even having the same level of education, which will beanalyzed in the following research chapters.
The theory has been addressed in different studies: Pérez and Castillo;Villalobos and Pedroza;Ramírez, among others. It is framed within the functionalist paradigm, according to Bonal, who develops a techno-economic version of this. The author states that investment in human capital brings with it an increase in salaries, linked strongly with the idea that, to greater education, greater productivity and, therefore, increase in the income that people receive.
The neoclassical paradigm and, consequently, the theory of human capital, "has attributed salary differences to the individual productivity of workers". In this sense, Cortés and Flores, they explain that there would be a relationship between the knowledge of people and the level of their productivity, that is, the level of educational training and knowledge that a person has is its capital and can be profitable in themarket.
Regarding investment in education, to measure the performance it brings, Blaug, states that it must be calculated exclusively based on quantifiable and observable values.
Criticism of human capital theory
This theory has not been exempt from criticism. Fermoso exposes the criticisms you consider main:
- Marxist radical criticism: focuses its criticism on the education system and the social factor;since education would serve as a meritocracy mechanism to assign unequal labor occupations to individuals, in addition to giving legitimacy to economic inequality.
- Institutionalist theory: It presents discrepancies with the theory of human capital, since it focuses on interpreting the economy and inequality, but from the historical evolution of the structures and institutions present in society.
Alternative paradigms: feminist theory
According to Linardelli, non -economic theory or also called feminist theory considers work not only as production activities but also of life reproduction, contrasting neoclassical economic theories.
Thus, feminist theory postulates that "the activities carried out by women in domestic groups, to ensure their biological, social and cultural reproduction constitute work". However, according to the same theory, this work is not paid by what women are conditioned to precarious ways of insertion to the formal work world, which are reflected in lower salaries, compared to those who receive men, men receive men,and an overload of the workers, or also called double presence, since the naturalization of domestic skills and the stereotyped extension of the functions of the wife-ram of the house is produced.
According to the SEC feminist economy space, feminist theory postulates the existence of a difficult conflict to resolve: the capital-life conflict, or between the accumulation of capital and the sustainability of life, in which the “socioeconomic system isAn iceberg based on feminized and invisible spheres "and" gender asymmetries in relations of production and reproduction are another way in which the patriarchal system precarizes people in a differential way ".
From the above, it follows that feminist theory seeks to establish a transformation through the deconstruction of different realities that cause discrimination and marginalization, as exposed by Gómez and Saldarriaga (2018) and exemplify through the deconstruction of language. Other authors coincide with Gómez and Saldarriaga, such as Ochman who proposes that public and private space are spaces of domination for women, so they must reconceptualize.
Therefore, it can be established that feminist theory has a study guideline in which:
“Gender stereotypes (positive or negative) are analyzed that are established in society and are transported to occupations, whether positive attributes of women associated with care, health, education, administrative occupations, etc., and other negative attributes in relation to technical and professional award ”.
This theory focuses on non -economic behaviors and mostly performs a non -statistical data analysis to explanation to the salary gap between men and women.
It is relevant to point out that there are various explanatory theories of the causes of this gap, by way of enriching the debate. However, this investigation will be guided by human capital theory.
Bibliography
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