Working and health conditions of female taxi drivers in Mexico City: A comparative analysis between women and men

Abstract

This paper describes working and health conditions of women who drive a taxi in Mexico City as their main economic activity, and the disparities in comparison to male taxi drivers. Based on a questionnaire given to 285 taxi drivers, 201 men and 84 women, it was found that although women have more years of education (p < .001) and work more hours per day (p < .031), their income is less than that of men (p < .196). Most (73.8%) of the women are single or lack financial support for their household—they are single mothers, widows, or divorcees—and 85.48% have children that they take to school and their educational activities, which means a loss of working hours precisely at rush hour, when demand and income rate are at their highest. Furthermore, women have a higher proportion of illness (p < .001) and musculoskeletal ailments than men drivers (p < .001); and they are more likely to get sick, mainly stemming from psychosocial demands such as feeling their work is unpleasant (OR = 2.11), income dissatisfaction (OR = 3.09), and getting traffic tickets (OR = 3.25). Therefore, there are important differences in working and health conditions between men and women, which need to be combatted with labor, safety, and gender equality policies to improve psychosocial factors for female workers.