This research highlights a change in the trend of female labor force participation that makes the situation potentially more worrisome: after around half a century of sustained growth, there are signs of widespread and significant deceleration in the entry of women into the Latin American labor markets. That deceleration appears to have begun in the early 2000s, and it applies to all groups of women, but particularly to those who are married, and in more vulnerable households. The entry of women into the workforce has delayed the closing of the gender gap in labor participation, and has made the fulfillment of the gender-equity Millennium Development Goal (MDGs) related to female employment improbable.

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