Among poor rural people, women and indigenous peoples are particularly vulnerable. Only 1.6 per cent of economically active women work in agriculture, yet women account for 14.2 per cent of the country’s rural labour force. They work as wage labourers in medium-size and large farms and industrial enterprises. Women are hired in large numbers to harvest traditional crops such as coffee, cocoa, fruit and vegetables. They work as graders and dryers during the tobacco harvest, and in livestock production, processing and marketing.
The country has made outstanding progress in reducing gender disparities in recent decades. Women obtained the right to vote in 1946. The Law of Equal Opportunities for Women was enacted in 1993, and the 1999 Bolivarian Constitution prohibits gender-based discrimination. In adjudicating rural land the Land Law of 2001 gives preference to women who are heads of households. And women are guaranteed a food subsidy during pregnancy and after childbirth. Several institutions have been created to assist women. They include the Ministry of Popular Power for Women, the Development Bank for Women and the National Prosecutor for Women’s Rights. In addition, a Basic Law on the Right of Women to a Life Free of Violence was passed in 2006.
A lower fertility rate in recent decades has facilitated women's entry into the labour market. Women constitute more than 36 per cent of the economically active population. A greater proportion of women are literate, compared to men. Enrolment at the primary school level is approximately equal for boys and girls, but more women than men are enrolled in secondary school and in universities. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimates that women occupy 61 per cent of highly qualified jobs. But women's salaries on average are only 42 per cent of men's salaries in equivalent jobs. There are more women than men in the informal labour market and women have higher unemployment rates. The number of households headed by women is growing rapidly, and these households are more likely to be poor or extremely poor than others. In rural areas the proportion of households headed by women is higher than in urban areas.