Labor inactivity as a way of making invisible the women’s work: Contributions to the new mapping of the rural labor market in Chile

Abstract

Labor inactivity, especially among women belonging to rural populations, is an artificially homogeneous concept in which habitualness and transience coexist. This paper analyzes the inactivity in the rural women and their decision-making routes, how their contributing role is render invisible, and the cultural norm influencing this issue. While taking care of the family is one of the main reasons refraining them from working, a strong presence of potentially active women is reported. This fact accounts for the transience and relevance of the cultural context in the woman’s decision-making sphere, reinforced by her educative capital, her partner and her age.