Invisible and mobile: occupational trajectories of rural women in Spain

Abstract

The extension of rural development policies has induced relevant changes into rural areas. A good expression of that is the increase of family incomes and living standards. However, there successful policies hare not been able to case the precarious condition of rural female labour. This text shows some of the principal conclusions of a recent research about female vital and labour trajectories in a large, representative sample of rural areas which made it by a large representative survey. The aim of the survey was to illustrate the real contribution of rural women to the productive economy. The results of this survey are contrasted with the data from official statistics. The main conclusions are two. First, official statistics have failed in measuring female activity rates in rural areas. And, second, the vital and labour trajectories are very different from the ones that are commonly admitted. This second conclusion has many implications for rural development planners. In this sense the research finds an inverse, important relation ship between mobility and labour irregularity.