Bolivia

Bolivia is a lower-middle-income country in South America with a population of just over 9 million and a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of $2,819 in 2005. It is one of the poorest countries on the continent. Life expectancy at birth is 64.7 years. According to official estimates, 32 percent of the population lives on less than $1 per day, and 65 percent of the population lives below the national poverty line. A high percentage of the population is of indigenous origins: 61 percent at the last census in 2001.

Bolivia signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in [Page 136]1990. However, gender-based discrimination continues to be widespread. Life expectancy for women is only 62.6 years, 4.3 years lower than men's. Women are also less likely to have attended school. Women's labor market participation has been increasing steadily, and 62.6 percent of all women are now in paid employment. Women on average earn just over half of men's average income ($2,059 as opposed to $3,584) and are overrepresented in the informal sector. According to one study, motherhood does not have negative effects on women's wages.

Most Bolivian women are mothers. Despite the fact that there has been a marked increase in the percentage of women who place education and paid work as their top priority, motherhood and marriage continues to be a fundamental part of women's identity. The fertility rate currently stands at 4 births per woman, down from 6.5 during the 1970s. According to a survey carried out in 2003, 12.6 percent of surveyed teenage girls already had a child, while 3.6 percent were pregnant.