Deciding to become a mother in Chile has become a calculated economic risk due to a persistent gender pay gap and a lack of childcare infrastructure, according to reports from El Mostrador.
Data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) reveals that the income gap between men and women stands at 25.5%. This disparity becomes even more pronounced during peak fertility years, between the ages of 25 and 45.
A study by the University of Chile confirms that women's earnings drop drastically after their first child. In most cases, mothers are unable to recover their salary trajectory to match that of their male counterparts.
The impact on labor participation
The female labor force participation rate in the country hovers at just 52%, significantly lower than the 71% recorded for men. The report notes that the primary driver of this gap is caregiving responsibilities.
In Chile, 97% of those who state they are not seeking employment due to caregiving duties are women. This situation pushes many mothers into informal labor due to the lack of flexibility within the formal employment system.
Strengthening the National Care System (Chile Cuida) is seen as a structural necessity to facilitate women's reentry into the workforce. However, the program faces threats from potential budget cuts under the administration of José Antonio Kast.
To reverse this trend, urgent reforms are being proposed, such as the elimination of Article 203 of the Labor Code. Currently, the requirement to provide childcare facilities only applies to companies with 20 or more female employees, which serves as a disincentive for hiring women.
There is also a call for mandatory, longer-term paternity leave to achieve true shared responsibility. The goal is to ensure the labor market stops viewing women as "high-risk employees."
Finally, the system must integrate pension justice to recognize the value of unpaid care work. This would prevent motherhood from translating into a sentence of poverty in old age caused by gaps in social security contributions.
