Data from the Ministerio de Trabajo (Ministry of Labour) shows that almost one third – 31% – of households in Costa Rica are headed by women. In fact, 4% of those women have two paid jobs.
The total work force in Costa Rica is made up of 45.2% women.
According to the Encuesta Nacional de Hogares (National Household Survey), the behaviour of employment rates of women between 2000 and 2012 has risen from 32.6% to 40.6%. So, if in 2000 the number of employed women was 449.938, 2012 the numbers rose to 759.953.
The Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INEC) – National Institute of Statistics and Census – numbers confirm the Labour figures, in that at least one in three households in the country has a woman as the head of the family. Important to note that though women work outside the home, they do not let family chores slide, according to the report.
At least one Costa Rica bank, the Banco Popular is directing their products at women. The bank, by way of its BP Empresarias (businesswomen), in a program launched in March 2012 has placed more than ¢2.25 billion colones of credit in micro, small and medium sized businesses run by women. BP Empresarias accounts for 5% of the gross profits for the bank.
