BOGOTA (Reuters) – Venezuelan migrant women in Colombia are facing worse working conditions than before the COVID-19 pandemic, with high unemployment, a drop in income and a lack of affiliation to the pension system, a study released on Monday said.
More than 1.8 million Venezuelans are living in Colombia, a top destination for those fleeing political, economic and social crisis in their country under the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
The research by Canadian nongovernmental organization Cuso International and Bogota’s Externado University said three out of 10 Venezuelan women in the Colombian job market were unemployed in the first semester of 2021. Of those who did have jobs, 92% were working informally and did not have a pension.
In the first half of 2021, migrant women faced a sharp drop of 11.1% in their income compared with 2019 and 2020, according to the study, which also highlighted xenophobia in the hiring process.
“The impact for women was worse during the pandemic and that means that recovery takes longer,” said Paola Rios, one of the report’s researchers. “And for migrants it’s even more difficult because they face more obstacles.”
Colombia last year granted temporary protected status of up to 10 years to Venezuelans, to facilitate their access to education, health and the labor market.
Migrants often work in undervalued jobs as domestic workers, hairdressers and building guards, the study said, and a large number also worked in the agriculture sector.
Ninety-four percent of Venezuelan women were engaged in extensive unpaid domestic or childcare activities, the study added.
The average payments made to Venezuelan women were well below the minimum wage, the report said.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Steven Grattan; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
