Alana Torres Research Findings Dr. Niesenbaum June 9 th, 2008 Education, Employment, and the Economy In Las Juntas de Abangares, Costa Rica PROJECT SUMMARY: My research in Costa Rica was originally aimed at exploring how the economic situation in the area of Las Juntas affects women s perceptions about work and education, particularly women who are gold miner s wives, and the Coopeproca, the women s recycling group. I chose these groups specifically because they each had very different gender implications, since the gold miner s wives would clearly be married, and many of the women in the Coopeproca generally are single, but are supporting family members. This difference would help propel an investigation of gender norms in the community, as well as provide a platform to investigate the place of these women within the economy. As many students in my class were either forced to improvise or change their focus to accommodate what information they were able to gain access to, I found my focus shifting also upon learning more about the education system and the economy in Las Juntas. The gender issues were abandoned, as I was only able to interview one wife of a gold miner in Chire, a gold mining community outside of Las Juntas, and also because when I went to interview women in the Coopeproca, only one was available to speak with, so a large group discussion that would help me identify gender norms was not possible as I had hoped. As I said, my focus changed to education, employment and the economy in Las Juntas without the gender implications. I was disappointed at first that I could not pursue that issue as much, but discovered that I was actually much more interested in the intersection of these three aspects of the community. Gender norms are similar in most nations anyway, being patriarchal and men being the primary bread winners, so when asked about the attitudes of men in terms of women working, I received predictable answers from the women I interviewed men prefer that their wives do not work, but it
really depends on each families financial situation. Again, this was an expected response, so I became bored with the issue, and felt no need to investigate it further. BACKGROUND INFORMATION I researched wage inequality between males and females, and the economic trends in Costa Rica. For the cases of my research, I will start in the 1980 s, when Latin America faced an economic crisis that reversed any growth up until that point. Costa Rica s GDP plummeted, resulting in a loss of 6.2% per capita. Between 1980 and 1991, real wages for full-time workers in San Jose dropped by 6.2% on average; however, these loses were not equal across the board for men and women. Men lost 9.9% in earnings while women gained 9.3%, thus encouraging more women to join the labor force (Tardanico, 1996). An immediate increase in poverty occurred, and families had to improvise in order to stay afloat. Of course, dynamics change per family, but they are sharply impacted by external forces, i.e., the economy (De La Rocha, 1995). Since it became much harder for one person in the family (who was usually male) to be the sole provider, women began entering the workforce in high numbers beginning in 1975, and numbers remained high until 1995. It was assumed that since women would be contributing to the family income, and thus gender roles were being blurred, that the division of household labor would also change (Mannon, 2006). However, the opposite is true. Women entering the workforce find that their gender roles are reinforced because their counterparts pull him away from their children (if the hypothetical couple mentioned has children) to prevent from further demasculinizing himself, and women end up being responsible for acquiring an income as well as the domestic duties the male was already distanced from. Women also begin to characterize paid labor as a facet of life that helps fulfill their motherly duties. Males do not have to identify their role in this manner (Mannon, 2006). Also, when women earn an equal amount or more than their male counter-part, they tend to trivialize their contribution as a secondary income, and in Latin American culture, exiting the workforce after bearing children is a sign of status and respectability (Mannon, 2006). Women in Latin America, influenced by the Catholic Church and social norms are happy to take on the homemaker role, as 32% of the adult population proudly performs the tasks associated with this position, but in the face of a plummeting economy, they engage
in informal paying work that is not documented by the government (such as renting out a room to post-secondary students (Mannon, 2006)). In order for families to maintain themselves, not only are women required to engage in paid labor, but men attempt to work overtime, and families as a whole consume less in the market, which only assists in the decay of the economy. With the rise in female workers, men have also received a blow to their wages, earning less than they have been accustomed to. Both of these factors brought to question the role of the man as the traditional breadwinner (Mannon, 2006). Pressure to earn a livable wage makes it difficult to pursue an education. In an article titled Accounting for Changing Earnings Inequality in Costa Rica, 1980-99, (2005) T.H. Gindling and J.D. Trejos found that wage inequality rose with the amount of education a person acquired, and fell when hours worked increased. It had been assumed that the more education a person receives, the more money they will ultimately make, but for people in Costa Rica, getting a job as quickly as possible seems to be the favored option according to quantitative statistics. Children begin working as early as the age of 12 (on record), and typically comprise approximately 5% of the work force (Gindling, 1993). Also, women tend to receive more education, leaving more room for men in the workforce, and allowing them to attain more experience (Gindling, 1993). Several studies were conducted that made an attempt to uncover how and why such variances have developed between male and female workers. It was found that women tend to enter the workforce in lower paying sectors, but also that many employers used discriminatory hiring practices, causing males to be over represented in the public sector. Males make three-fourths of the workforce, while women occupy the remaining twenty-five percent (Gindling & Trejos, 2005). Costa Rica also employs a complex minimum wage system. Costa Rica (as documented in the most recent data that I was able to acquire) has nineteen separate minimum wages that are updated annually every January. These minimum wages are determined by skill level, and real wages vary depending on experience and skill also, with the minimum wages serving as the lowest guaranteed salary for any given position. When adjusted, the minimum wages impact real wages for the rest of the work force, so when there is less inequality between the minimum wage groups, there is also less inequality between all workers in general (Gindling & Terrell 2004). During the 1980 s however, real wages plummeted when the economy became unstable, and thus, women
were propelled into the workforce, changing the household structure from a breadwinnerhomemaker model into a dual-income operation (Mannon, 2006). Information that would be more useful to me as I continue to gather research would be from the Coopeproca in regards to their recycling. I need to know what they make the largest profits from, and what materials they are ignoring or not capitalizing on to their fullest potential. Knowing this information can help me when I do my own research on recycling specific materials so that when I meet up with this group, I might be able to assist them in improving their efforts. Perhaps I can start an email correspondence with members in the group. Based on my research, I have hypothesized that the women in the Coopeproca, as well as the gold miner s wives, value work more than education, and that these attitudes are reinforced by traditional gender roles and discriminatory hiring practices. I also hypothesize that the women of the Coopeproca created the group out of a concern for their environment as well as their children, but also because they failed to find work in both the formal and informal sectors. For the gold miner s wives, I hypothesize that the majority of them now contribute to the family income, but that they have failed to receive much help in the home from their spouses. METHODOLOGY My research gathering consisted of mainly oral data I collected through interviews where I utilized various translators. I created a survey, but after reviewing the answers, I cannot use the data as many of the questions were answered generally rather than specifically in regards to questions about their opinions of education versus employment. The questions I did ask the women were geared toward the economy of Las Juntas, the job availability within the area, and how opportunities present themselves or are sought out. FINDINGS The general consensus among the women I interviewed was that the economy in Las Juntas is bad. Only one woman said it was okay, but then stated that the community needs more jobs because it is very difficult to find work; these statements together are contradictory. When asked what they thought would improve the economy,
the women stated that more jobs would be necessary because there are nearly no options in Las Juntas, in their opinion. The highest employed occupation is within the gold mining industry, and this is because people can employ themselves, and they work independently. There is no limit to how many people can mine, as long as they are able to purchase or rent all the necessary materials, so many take up the trade if they cannot find other work. The women s recycling group is similar to the gold mining industry in that it is a job that is supplementing poor job options in Las Juntas, even if it only serves a limited amount of women. When asked why the group was created, the founder stated that she wanted to do something about the environment of their neighborhood. This is a noble undertaking; however, when another member, who was there since the beginning, was asked why the group was created, she stated that it was a vein for income. The group then, in her words was created to provide several women a job and stream of money. I m sure that both reasons were equally responsible for the creation of the group, but the economy of Las Juntas I think was certainly a huge factor in creating the Coopeproca. Because there are very limited job options in Las Juntas, employment s intersection with education is quite interesting. I discovered that completing primary, secondary, and post secondary education in Las Juntas is very difficult; so difficult that many children stop attending school after primary education. Whether or not they have access to transportation (whether that means paying for a cab, riding a bike, or being dropped off by parents) is the make or break factor for many students. Children who live in the town of Chire, which is approximately a 10-15 minute drive, are facing a two hour walk to the school closest to them if they can t afford or gain access to public transportation. Children in this neighborhood also learn the gold mining trade out of tradition, and when school becomes too tough to complete, they stay in Chire and become gold miners. This unfortunate trend for children who cannot complete their education fuels an unskilled labor force in Las Juntas. If you walk the streets of the community the job market consists of service industry and retail. Most work in this neighborhood does not require formal training, because acquiring formal training is difficult, skilled industry is minimal in Las Juntas. It is my assumption, since it is difficult to draw very sophisticated conclusions from our limited research, that because education is difficult to complete in Las Juntas,
and because the job opportunities reflect the level of education of its community members, that the economy is adversely impacted in particular because of these factors. I m sure there are other outside forces that contribute to the poor economy of the area, but this is the best connection I can draw between these three facets of the community. In the future, I think it would be valuable to investigate the local government and its programs regarding employment, education, and the economy as an extension if my research. Bibliography De la Rocha, M.G. (1995). The urban family and poverty in Latin America Latin American Perspectives. 22, 12-31. Gindling, T.H. & Terrell, K. (2004). Minimum wages, inequality, and globalization. Michigan Journal of International Law. 26, 245-69. Gindling, T.H., & Trejos, J.D. (2005). Accounting for changing earnings inequality in Costa Rica, 1980-99. The Journal of Development Studies. 41, 898-926. Gindling, T.H. (1993). Women's wages and economic crisis in Costa Rica. Economic Development and Cultural Change. 277-97. Mannon, S.E. (2006). Love in the time of neo-liberalism: Gender, Work, and Power in a Costa Rican Marriage. Gender and Society. 20, 511-30. Tardanico, R. (1996). Employment, restructuring, and gender: The case of San Jose, Costa Rica. Studies in Comparative International Development. 31, 85-122. Interviews with: Mr. Jimenez and Carmen Jimenez Elieth Moreras Marina Bermisley Gaida Arn