Differences in Levels of Support for Gender Equality between Working and Non-Working Women in Mexico

Abstract

There exists vast literature that has pointed out that working women are more supportive of gender equality and therefore, have higher levels of autonomy and decision-making capacity than non-working women. However, it has been found that the gap in the support for gender equality between working and non-working women mainly derives from the fact that women in the labor force are younger and more educated. Therefore, it can be argued that the impacts of women’s participation in the labor market are dissimilar among women with different background characteristics. This study aims to analyze whether the effect of female participation in the labor market on women’s gender orientations is different depending on women’s background characteristics. Using information from the National Survey on the Dynamics of Household Relationships 2016, this study employs hierarchical lineal modeling. Results of this study indicate that the difference in mean levels of support for gender equality between employed and unemployed women remains significant and positive. Social resources have a convergence effect between working women and non-working women. Also, results suggest that female participation in the labor market does not increase the differences in women’s support for gender equality between women with the same years of schooling.