Published by

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Board of Directors
Ana Vilma Albanez de Escobar (Vice-President of the Republic and President of the National
Council for Sustainable Development, CNDS), Jessica Faieta (UNDP Resident Representative
and Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in El Salvador), José Jorge Simán, Mario
Andino, José María Tojeira, Mercedes Llort, Elena María de Alfaro, Ítalo Cardona, Ricardo
Freund and Santiago Ruiz

Executive Secretariat of the National Council for Sustainable Development (CNDS)

Álvaro Magaña
Yanira Quiteño

Coordinator and Editor

William Pleitez

Editorial team
Miguel Huezo Mixco (editorial coordination), María Tenorio, Carlos Acevedo, Jimmy Vásquez
(Statistical Coordinator)

With support from

Patricio Amaya, Ana Margarita Marroquín, Charles Schnell, Jessica Reyes, and Silvia Guzmán
(administration)

Photographs
Mauro Arias

Translated by
Fabien Lefrançois

Design
Communicación Gráfica, El Salvador
Cover: Impactta Publicidad

Printed by
Impresos Múltiples

Suggested Citation Format :

UNDP (2008). Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008. Labor in one of the world’s
hardest-working countries. Offprint. “Elements for a National Employment and Social Cohesion Pact /
Overview / The significance of work in Salvadoreans’ lives”. San Salvador.

PNUD
Edificio Naciones Unidas, Bulevar Orden de Malta, Edificio 2-B, Antiguo Cuscatlán, El Salvador
www.pnud.org.sv
Elements for a National Employment
and Social Cohesion Pact from a
Human Development Perspective
 You cannot do the same thing over and over
again and expect different results.

Albert Einstein

Written by the editorial team with inputs from the Board of Directors, and the collaboration of Alma Espino,
Ada Méndez and Alejandro Pacheco.

Introduction
Generations of Salvadorans have aspired
to reducing economic and social gaps and
achieving greater prosperity. El Salvador
needs to transform its current reality and
create a situation in which everyone feels
included and can hope to live a decent life.
Salvadorans greatly value the potential of work
as a stepping stone for social advancement.
The issue therefore constitutes fertile ground
when it comes to agreeing on the type of
society that Salvadorans want to build for
present and future generations. The readiness
to work hard to achieve greater welfare is an
asset on the road to a more cohesive society
with higher human development.
The present report gathers the concerns
of a majority of Salvadorans in terms of
employment: getting a satisfying job; keeping
the one you have; getting a better salary;
access to social protection in case of illness,
accident, and when reaching old age; being
treated fairly and without discrimination in
the workplace; among others. To reflect these
aspirations, the concept of “decent work”
is used here as an ethical referent linking
the desire to live a life that is considered
valuable (human development) with a sense
of belonging to society (social cohesion).
As this report explains, the concept of
decent work refers to holding a good job
in a globalized world. Decent work requires
fair remuneration, good working conditions,
access to social protection networks,
self-development and social recognition
opportunities, and equal treatment for men
and women. It also entails respecting certain
rights and fulfilling certain obligations, and
opening channels for social dialogue.
This type of work provides security to people,
by guaranteeing them the necessary income
in order for them and their families to live a
Elements for a National Employment and Social Cohesion Pact
decent life, in the knowledge that normative
mechanisms protect them inside and outside
the workplace. It is also a form of participation
in social life that stimulates individual creativity
and offers opportunities to express views and
take part in decision-making on common
interest issues. Moreover, by providing an
income, decent work also generates other
forms of participation for people as consumers
and taxpayers.
Decent work is a social inclusion mechanism.
To play an active role in society, most people
have to participate in the job market and the
country’s production structure. In that sense,
decent work promotes equity, by inserting
workers and their families into the social
fabric, which translates into access to services,
a sense of belonging, self-esteem, and self-
The readiness to
realization. work hard to achieve
greater welfare is an
Decent work, lastly, is where personal and asset on the road to a
social advancement intersect. At the personal
level, it allows everyone to feel comfortable more cohesive society
with what they are, what they do and what with higher human
they have. In social terms, it reduces economic development
and social gaps, fosters social coexistence and
cooperative practices, and as a result, lays the
foundations for democratic governance and
stability.
Why a pact?
Considering the steps that El Salvador needs
to take towards a more cohesive society with
higher human development, and given the
potential impact of decent work in this respect,
this Report recommends designing a National
Employment and Social Cohesion Pact, understood as
a broadly-agreed, representative social agreement on the
need to offer decent work opportunities, particularly to
excluded or disadvantaged social groups.
This idea is not a passing fad, rather it
stems from the conviction that El Salvador
requires a change, and that active change
must come from society as a whole. As the
5
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
epigraph of this section states, “you cannot
doing the same thing over and over again
and expect different results”.
On the one hand, the lack of decent jobs that
pushes people to opt for underemployment
or to emigrate is a reality that needs to be
acknowledged and addressed. On the other
hand, citizens have a responsibility to initiate
changes in their living conditions, debate and
reach an agreement on the type of society they
want to build, and the type of commitments
they are ready to fulfill.
Principles
A country’s real wealth lies in its people
The Pact proposed Many countries that have become rich in
here reflects the recent times, such as Singapore, Taiwan
and the Republic of Ireland, are small, have
conviction that El limited natural resources and in some cases
Salvador requires a are dependent on basic goods such as water
change, which should and food. All they have is people.
come from society as a
How could these countries achieve so much
whole despite such difficult environments? By
acknowledging that a country’s real wealth
lies in its people, and focusing on two specific
aspects: a) building human capabilities
through substantial investment in health,
education and training; and b) fully utilizing
these capabilities through public policies that
prioritize full employment. These examples
offer interesting perspectives for other small,
densely-populated countries also facing
resource scarcity, such as El Salvador.
Economic progress, though not an end
in itself, precedes social advancement
Social advancement rewards economic growth.
Economic growth increases a country’s wealth
and generates new opportunities for its people.
Countries with the highest levels of per capita
income usually perform better in terms of
social indicators and human development
levels.
6
However, in some instances, the use that
a country makes of its wealth can be more
critical than the wealth itself. The impact of
economic growth on the quality of life of
its inhabitants depends greatly on how it is
redistributed, particularly how much goes to
the poorest through policies for employment,
primary healthcare, education, safe water
supply and sanitation, etc.
Production precedes consumption
Changes in a country’s production structure
are necessary before it can broaden and
diversify its consumption patterns, in order to
make these sustainable. When people, tempted
by the sirens of consumption, acquire certain
‘needs’, while ignoring the efforts required
to satisfy those needs in terms of education,
labor, savings, investment, production and
productivity, the final result is usually an
unsustainable consumer society that sooner
or later will have to correct macroeconomic
imbalances. In consumer societies, local
resources are often spent on imported
luxury goods, while strategic investments on
human capital and infrastructure are financed
through external loans.
Objectives and goals
The Pact will facilitate the design and the
adoption of a human development strategy
for El Salvador that progressively reduces
unemployment, underemployment and
informal employment, while increasing
saving and investment rates, national
competitiveness and export production, as
well as achieving solid, sustained economic
growth.
The long-term goal of the Pact is that
all Salvadorans of working age, with the
ability and desire to work, have access to
productive employment, fair remuneration,
and professional and self-development
opportunities as well as social protection
networks.

To this end, the Pact should include specific
targets to be reached by 2021, such as:
• Lower the rate of labor underutilization
(underemployment and unemployment) to
under 20%
• Eradicate child labor, based on the
principle that the minimum working age
should be set depending on the educational
level that is expected from workers
• Double the GDP per capita: achieve
an annual growth rate of 6 to 8% without
jeopardizing environmental sustainability
• Reduce income distribution inequalities:
bring the Gini coefficient under 0.4
• Raise saving and investment levels to
over 30% of GDP
• Ensure that El Salvador is among the
first 20 countries in the ‘Doing Business’
ranking
• Achieve an average schooling level of
12 years
• Achieve the Millennium Development
Goals.
Agenda
Priorities for the Pact should be set by
stakeholders involved in its design. Below
are a few suggestions, however, based on the
findings of the present Report and which
are key to putting the country on the path
to full employment and social cohesion. The
measures described below are far from being
exhaustive.
1. Restore national confidence and
institutionalize consensus-building
Throughout their common history as a nation,
Salvadorans have shown to be tenacious,
enterprising and hard-working, but also
distrustful and violent. The few times they have
decided to resolve their differences, however,
have resulted in spectacular achievements.
The Peace Accords that put an end to the
armed conflict and paved the way for the
socioeconomic and political changes of the
Elements for a National Employment and Social Cohesion Pact
past 15 years are still considered one of the
most successful peace processes in the world.
However, the times when citizens have
come together to resolve their differences are
few and far between. Disagreements tend to
degenerate into confrontation, making clear
that one of the main obstacles for the country’s
development is the fact that national actors
still struggle to support each other in order to
achieve common goals.
Additionally, Salvadoran society places very
little trust in institutions. Failure to comply with
laws, distrust in public funds management and
a discredited political class are all symptoms
of current institutional erosion. Distrust,
fuelled by the fact that people fail to fulfill
their obligations and comply with basic rules, The overall goal
results in weak interpersonal and social ties, of the Pact is that
and hinders consensus-building.
all Salvadorans of
working age, with
To overcome these obstacles, El Salvador
should learn from experience of countries such the ability and
as Spain and Ireland, where consensus-building desire to work, have
between the main actors of the working world access to productive
and civil society has been institutionalized
through entities that are part of the national
employment, fair
remuneration, and
planning system.
professional and
In Ireland, social actors (government, political
self-development
parties, trade unions, business associations and
opportunities as well
others) have shown a remarkable openness to
dialogue, reaching agreements and seeking to as social protection
solve structural and circumstantial problems, networks
and setting aside differences from the civil war
(Sweeney, 2003). A central feature in programs
agreed on through social dialogue is that they
tackle employment, productivity, wages and
competitiveness simultaneously. Consensus-
building has become so important in Ireland
that agreements between social actors are now
the main planning instrument (Pontoni, 2003).
This leads to increased predictability, stability
and credibility, which help foster social peace
based on fast-growing decent employment
creation.
7
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
The question, in the case of El Salvador, is
whether the state, together with workers and
business leaders, can promote a competitive
and environmentally sustainable model
based on productivity and generating decent
employment. Similarly important is whether
employers and workers and their respective
associations can adapt their respective approach
to enable the implementation of such a model.
In order for El Salvador to adopt such a
model and to facilitate consensus-building,
workers and business associations must
become stronger, more credible and more
representative. This requires active promotion
of freedom of association and organization,
without restrictions.
The question is In addition, an Economic and Social Council
whether the state, should be created, involving representatives
together with from government, political parties, trade
unions, business associations and civil society
workers and business
organizations, which would design concerted
leaders, can promote programs on employment, productivity, wages
a competitive and and economic competitiveness, and would
environmentally periodically review progress towards a vision
for the country’s future.
sustainable model
that is based on One of the main challenges facing the country
productivity and is society’s subjective integration through the
creation of a ‘common sense’ that allows
generates decent
everyone to feel part of a larger community.
employment It is therefore vital to generate a political and
social climate that fosters compromise through
dialogue. The media can make an important
contribution in this respect.
2. Macroeconomics for employment and growth
No single macroeconomic policy works at all
times in all places. Macroeconomic policies vary
according to the type of economy and society
pursued (Norton 1998). Considerations
of this type drove the macroeconomic
reforms implemented in El Salvador from
1989 onwards. The country was faced
with a crisis characterized by negative
8
growth rates, high levels of unemployment
and underemployment, foreign currency
scarcity, high inflation, an unsustainable
fiscal deficit, and rising poverty rates,
among other problems. It was expected
that the reforms would lead to robust and
sustained growth, higher employment levels
and better income distribution, an increase
and diversification in exports, an increase
in savings and investment, and overall a
stronger macroeconomic framework.
Initial results were so successful that by the mid-
1990s, the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund were presenting El Salvador as
the poster child of the Washington Consensus.
From 1996 onwards, however, the growth rate
started to decrease, while the rate of labor
underutilization resumed its rise. More recently,
high oil and basic agricultural goods prices on
the international markets have contributed to a
sharp increase in the cost of living.
Several of these problems find their root in
three macroeconomic factors that result in
low employment generation and growth: a)
exchange rate appreciation is currently higher
than in 1989, and the dollarization reinforces
this fact; b) trade openness is not matched by
competitiveness of the country’s production
system; and c) resources to finance investment
in education, training, health and infrastructure
are scarce, all of which are necessary to increase
labor productivity, reduce transaction costs
and enhance competitiveness (see Chapter 5).
Overcoming these problems requires
adopting a macroeconomic framework that
reduces the part consumption plays in GDP,
improves the effectiveness of public spending
on human development, encourages savings
and investment, and promotes exports,
particularly in labor-intensive sectors.
Given that El Salvador has dollarized its
economy and signed free trade agreements
with its main trading partners, potential policy

options must follow the principles of an open
economy, and should seek to minimize the
risks and maximize the opportunities that
come with it.
A number of measures are proposed below,
based on the findings of this Report as well
as other studies:
a. Setting up a Competitiveness Support Fund
for economic sectors strategically selected
to spearhead employment generation and
economic growth in the coming years. The
Fund would be financed by a VAT-type tax on
domestically-produced and imported goods.
Resources would finance business incubation,
venture capital, economic diversification,
export promotion, technological research
and transfer, clean technology research
and innovation, etc. Public-private boards
involving representatives from key sectors
would administer the Fund. Such a
mechanism could have a deflationary effect,
as national production would increase. The
United States and Canada have used this type
of mechanism (known as ‘check-off ’), with
rates ranging between 0.5% and 5%.
b. Adjusting subsidies for imported products.
Paradoxically for a country with high
consumption to GDP and import to GDP
ratios, and with scarce resources to finance
sector policies, most subsidies currently go to
imported goods consumption (e.g. propane
gas), and to goods produced with high levels of
imported inputs (i.e. electricity and transport),
without clear targeting criteria.
c. Setting up a publicly-managed mandatory
savings scheme based on individual capitalization.
Considering the country’s massive needs in
terms of decent employment generation, which
cannot be met by the private sector due to high
transaction costs and low labor productivity,
a publicly-managed mandatory savings scheme based
on individual capitalization is recommended.
Savings could initially be used for housing, and
at a later stage their use could be broadened
Elements for a National Employment and Social Cohesion Pact
to include health services, unemployment and
life insurance, and children’s education. Rates
would be adjusted based on real wage level and
age of the contributors, and would be pegged
to macro-economic indicators (i.e. raised in
case of overheating and lowered in recession
or slow growth situations).
Savings should be used to finance (with low
but positive real interest rates) strategic choices
as well as bold public investment programs
in training, education and infrastructure
modernization, with a view to reducing
transaction costs and enhancing labor
productivity. This would in turn stimulate
private investment and boost growth. A rise in
formal public and private employment would
result in higher tax collection (broader tax
base) as well as a rise in private savings (rise in El Salvador needs
contributions). a macroeconomic
framework that
This process is expected to replace the current
reduces the part
vicious circle of low saving and investment
levels, slow growth and high levels of labor consumption plays
underutilization, with a virtuous circle based on in GDP, improves
high saving and investment levels, sustained the effectiveness of
growth and full employment. Such a system
should also include mechanisms allowing
public spending on
Salvadorans residing abroad to participate. human development,
One of the main advantages of this strategy is encourages savings
that massive creation of decent jobs can boost
and investment, and
tax collection significantly, without having to
raise taxes (see Chart 1). promotes exports
d. Adopting a fiscal responsibility agreement.
In order to consolidate and strengthen the
virtuous circle described above, efforts to
raise the private saving rate should go hand
in hand with a fiscal responsibility agreement. Its
aim would be to provide the state with the
necessary human, financial, organizational
and institutional resources to fulfill its
administrative and regulatory functions with
efficiency, transparency and integrity, meet its
obligations in terms of public debt, achieve the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and
finance the country’s strategic choices.
9
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008

A fiscal responsibility agreement goes beyond policies based on merits and skills; relentless
mere tax collection. Questions that need to be efforts to eradicate corruption through
answered before discussing tax levels include: effective implementation of national legislation
What country do we want and which are the on ethics in government; and an autonomous
strategic choices that can help us steer it in and independent National Audit Court.
that direction? What are the fiscal needs in
order to build this vision and finance strategic Moreover, as El Salvador is quickly reaching
choices? What are the different options (fiscal full urbanization, options such as a property
and other) to raise matching resources? What tax and capital gain taxation on changes in
is the maximum percentage of the national land use deserve to be considered, with the
budget that should go to financing the state view to setting up a fund for local and regional
apparatus, in order to prevent bureaucrats and development. This would improve the financial
politicians from diverting resources produced situation of municipalities and help finance
by an increase in private and public savings? local and regional strategic initiatives, and at
Which percentage of the budget should go the same would prevent an increase in income
to social spending? And finally, how will fiscal and wealth inequalities.
jurisdiction be divided between the central
government and municipalities? An encouraging factor is that macroeconomic
reforms required today are less profound
Considering the A fiscal responsibility agreement also requires than in the 1980s, and economic foundations
country’s massive public administration hiring and advancement are now more solid with higher per capita
needs in terms of
decent employment
generation, which
Chart 1: Tax Collection for Different Levels of Decent Employment
cannot be met by
the private sector, a
publicly-managed
mandatory savings
scheme based
on individual
capitalization should
be implemented

Source: Own estimates, based on Multipurpose Household Survey 2006 (DIGESTYC, 2006) and BCR, 2007.

10

income levels. However, the fact that the
current crisis is not widespread might generate
more resistance to change, particularly from
sectors that benefit from the current economic
policies and do not perceive the need to steer
the country’s economy in a different direction.
3. A commitment to knowledge
An Employment and Social Cohesion Pact
from a human development perspective
would work on the assumption that “a
country’s main source of wealth resides in
its people” (PNUD, 1990). Therefore the
most important strategic choice to make is to
capitalize on this wealth through investment
in education and training that increase
people’s knowledge, skills and abilities. This is
particularly crucial in the globalization era, as
rapid technological change means knowledge
is vital to a country’s competitiveness and can
also rapidly depreciate human capital.
This part of the Pact’s agenda aims to propose
public policies that strengthen people’s
capabilities through education, training and
a commitment to knowledge. It also seeks
to increase the range of available work
opportunities to match the skills people acquire.
Successfully combining education, training and
employment requires defining priorities for
the country and strategic directions to achieve
them.
The importance of education for the
development of El Salvador is well-
documented. An IDB study from 1997
shows that an extra year added to the average
schooling level would raise the annual growth
rate by 1.55%. This is significantly higher than
the 0.5% to 1% that the Dominican Republic-
Central America Free Trade Agreement is
expected to yield. Similarly, FUSADES (2001)
estimates that universal primary education
would cost an additional 2.7% of GDP, and
would raise the average education level by four
grades, reduce poverty by half, and guarantee
Elements for a National Employment and Social Cohesion Pact
an annual growth rate of 5%. A World Bank
study (Loyaza et al., 2005) calculated that the
annual growth rate of the Salvadoran economy
was determined respectively by the workforce
and its education (2.27%), physical capital
(2.03%), and productivity (0.25%). Based on
all these findings, Skipper (2006) argues that
El Salvador could enter a virtuous circle of
economic growth, human capital development
and poverty reduction by placing a stronger
emphasis on education.
Additionally, estimates and scenarios produced
for this Report show that a sharp increase
in schooling levels would result not only
in increased growth rates and employment
generation, but would also generate additional
fiscal resources that would outweigh the
required investment in education (see Chapter Successfully combining
5). This means education essentially pays for education, training and
itself. employment requires
defining priorities
The studies mentioned above all point to
the fact that El Salvador is in a position to for the country and
substantially increase the resources it dedicates strategic orientations
to education and training, given current to achieve them
levels of per capita income. This leads to the
following recommendations:
a. Increase public spending for education. Raising
public spending for education during the next
presidential administration to 6% of GDP.
This would allow El Salvador to meet targets
established in the National Education Plan
2021 (MINED, 2005) earlier than expected.
b. Increase resources for professional training.
Progressively increase resources dedicated to
training until reaching 1% of GDP. A first
necessary step would be to raise contributions
to INSAFORP to 1.5% of payroll (as in the
case of Costa Rica). The contributor base
should be expanded by including central
government institutions as well as micro and
small businesses. For the latter, the rate could
be limited to 0.5% of payroll (INSAFORP,
2006).
11
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
c. Promoting the command of a second language. In
keeping with the increase in resources devoted
to education and training, the command of
a second language should be promoted –
preferably English (as the current dominant
language) or Mandarin Chinese (language of
the future).
English is the language most widely used
by multinational corporations and for
international transactions. ANEP (2006)
estimates that in the space of 10 years, with
a US$ 30 million annual investment, half a
million young people in El Salvador would
have an advanced command of the English
language, and would therefore have access
to better jobs. ANEP estimates also indicate
that the state would get its investment back
El Salvador is through direct and indirect taxes trained
in a position to young people would pay during their first year
substantially increase in a job. If, as specified in the 2021 Education
Plan, a majority of young people receive a
the resources it
higher or a technical education, they could
dedicates to education benefit from temporary migration programs
and training, given (as part of DR-CAFTA), particularly in
current levels of per sectors that experience a workforce shortage
in the US.
capita income
El Salvador should also start widely promoting
the learning of Chinese Mandarin, given the
growing relevance of China in the world
economy. As part of its foreign policy, El
Salvador should promote technical cooperation
activities involving visiting Chinese teachers.
d. Rearranging the school year. Aligning the
school year to the one of the United States
would allow children of Salvadorans living
there and with access to higher education
to visit El Salvador during summer vacation
and teach intensive English classes, therefore
strengthening identity ties. This measure
would improve school performance and
additionally would reduce morbidity, as
children would not go to school during
the rainy months when the risk to contract
contagious diseases is higher. Moreover,
12
there is not much sense in aligning the school
year to the labor needs of an economy based
on agricultural exports, which has practically
ceased to exist. This is reinforced by the fact
that Salvadorans see less and less the appeal
of seasonal harvesting jobs.
e. Research and Development Fund. To complement
these measures, El Salvador needs to take
resolute steps to significantly increase its
technological innovation capacity. The
percentage of GDP the country currently
dedicates to Research and Development
(R&D) is practically inexistent. The US
dedicate 2.6% of GDP to R&D, Chile, 0.54%,
Costa Rica, 0.27% and El Salvador, 0.01%.
Developing the necessary structure to promote
technological research requires at the very least
to raise spending on R&D.
4. Strategic choices
To ensure that progress in decent employment
creation matches improvements in education
and training, steps should be taken to produce
a flexible workforce, highly responsive to labor
markets needs. In addition to permanently
improving the quality of education at all
levels, it is also important to identify the
sectors and areas in which the country could
excel internationally. These strategic choices
should support the mid-term and long-
term goals and objectives identified for the
country, and factor in existing strengths and
limitations.
Strategic choices should initially focus on the
following objective: all Salvadorans of working
age, who have the ability and the desire to work,
should have access to formal employment.
To this end, the country should concentrate
on economic sectors with robust production
chains (i.e. rubber and plastic products; basic
and processed chemical products; machinery,
equipment and supplies; transport equipment
and manufactured products; restaurants and
hotels; transport and storage), sectors with

greater labor absorption capacity given its
availability in the country (i.e. construction
and tourism), sectors with greater import
substitution potential (i.e. ethanol and other
renewable energy sources, agroindustry), and
lastly, sectors with developing or established
export niches (see Chapter 5). Strategic choices
will have to be adjusted later on, as efforts
to raise education and training levels of the
workforce start to yield results.
The Competitiveness Support Fund mentioned
earlier would lay the foundations for the
promotion of economic sectors selected as
strategic choices, especially if combined with
the following measures:
a. Reinstating a national planning system. Reinstating
a national ministerial entity for planning and
coordination of the country’s development.
This entity would coordinate vision-setting,
strategic choices and plans driving the
country’s development, and the design of
the corresponding macroeconomic and
sector policies. It would also be in charge of
ensuring public service efficiency, permanently
monitor progress towards identified goals and
objectives, and issue evaluation reports. As
John Bruton, Ireland’s former Prime Minister,
puts it (2001), “While mistakes can be made,
planning for the long-term does bring very
good results”.
b. Carrying out comparative analysis of institutions
that contribute to generating decent work,
economic growth and social cohesion
in successful countries, and Salvadoran
institutions in charge of supporting micro,
small and medium enterprises, and promoting
national and foreign investment, industrial
development and professional training.
Findings would help make the necessary
adjustments for national entities.
In addition to these initiatives, and in order
to reduce geographic gaps and rural-urban
migration, regional and local development
strategies should be promoted. This would
Elements for a National Employment and Social Cohesion Pact
entail: a) providing incentives for foreign
companies, basic services and infrastructure
providers to establish themselves across the
whole territory; and b) striving to put to the
best possible productive use the capacity and
resources of the local population, companies
and institutions. A potentially very successful
strategy (particularly given the significance of
remittances and migration for the country)
is the “one village, one product” approach,
in which local communities and villages
concentrate on one product (or a limited range
of products) for which they have a particular
know-how, with a view to commercializing it
outside the area. This would not only boost
local job creation, but also strengthen local
identities and capabilities as well as self-
esteem among inhabitants. This strategy was
successfully implemented in Oita, Japan, and In addition to
later exported to other countries. permanently
improving the
quality of education
5. Recognizing the contribution of reproductive
work to society and reducing gender inequalities. at all levels, it is also
important to identify
The work situation of women in El Salvador the sectors and
shows the existence of persistent gender
inequalities (see Chapter 8). First, women
areas in which the
still perform most of the Non-Remunerated country could excel
Domestic Work (NRDW) – i.e. household internationally
chores, caring for children, the elderly and
the disabled -, whether or not they have a
job and contribute to the family’s income.
Second, 50% of the female economically
active population (EAP) is underemployed,
while the figure for the male EAP is 38.6%.
Lastly, women earn less than men on
average, and fill most of the remunerated
domestic service positions, in which they
lack social and economic recognition and
are submitted to unregulated hours.
Most of these gaps reflect the traditional
sexual division of labor as well as socially-
conveyed formal and informal norms that
shape expectations and opportunities for
each sex. Advancing towards gender equality
13
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
in the workplace requires from society as a
whole to take on social reproduction work,
meaning men and women must acknowledge
its importance, divide tasks, and establish
support mechanisms outside the household
(CEPAL, 2007). An Employment and Social
Cohesion Pact should therefore include the
following measures:
a. Systematically measuring the contribution of
domestic work. Institutions in charge of
statistical production for the country should
produce tools to measure NRDW annually.
These would include time use surveys, as part
of the Multi-Purpose Household Survey,
which would measure how men and women
manage their time. In addition, a specific
item on household production, designed
by the Central Bank as part of the national
Advancing towards accounting system, would measure the
gender equality economic contribution of NRDW to GDP.
in the workplace Both instruments would give visibility to
the contribution of domestic tasks to social
requires society as
reproduction and the national economy.
a whole to take on
social reproduction b. Reducing the deficit in social services for population
work, meaning men groups requiring care. Society as a whole has a
responsibility to care for children, the elderly
and women must and the disabled, and cannot rely exclusively
acknowledge its on women to do so. The state, the market
importance, divide and families should all contribute their
share, thus alleviating tensions between
tasks, and establish
the productive and reproductive spheres.
support mechanisms This requires increasing the offer of
outside the household nurseries and retirement homes, revising the
duration of hospital stay for patients and
the duration of the school day, and finally,
granting paternity leave to men to increase
their involvement in childcare.
c. Reforming social security. The current
social security system reinforces gender
inequalities by ignoring the contribution
of women’s non-remunerated work and by
failing to reward the task of raising children.
Women receive lower pensions than men
because they earn less, retire earlier, and live
longer on average. A reform of the system
14
is needed to ensure it contributes to gender
justice and adequately rewards women’s
participation in the overall workload, by
recognizing their work within the household.
A number of measures can contribute to
inject solidarity into the social protection
system: bonuses for live births, balancing
out life expectancy for men and women,
raising the age of retirement for women by
5 years, and adjusting insurance rates based
on the risk of accident.
6. Employment programs for urban youth
Employment programs for young people
are one of the most effective strategies to
prevent crime, by enabling their productive
and social integration, while increasing labor
productivity and strengthening a country’s
economic competitiveness. “First Job”
programs in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico
and other countries offer valuable lessons and
models that can be used to design and launch
similar initiatives in El Salvador (see Chapter
9).
As experience in these countries shows,
lack of skills is one of the main factors
explaining the high level of unemployment
and underemployment among young people.
This issue is particularly problematic for
young people who come from low-income
households and with lower levels of education.
They would greatly benefit from ‘First Job’
programs offering training opportunities to
acquire skills valued in the labor market. Such
programs would also help fight unemployment,
poverty, and violence. As evidenced by
successful programs in other countries, the
key is to match the training offer with demand.
This can be done by combining training at
the company (through interim or internship
schemes), with brief spells in the classroom as
in the case of the ‘Chile Joven’ and ‘Proyecto
Joven’ programs. This is based on the idea that
a willingness to welcome apprentices would
help generate actual employment opportunities

in a company. Programs of this type would
therefore increase the chances of trained
youngsters to permanently join the company
that trained them, or similar ones.
Contracts for specific training programs should
be awarded through open bidding processes,
ensuring quality and adequately-priced courses
are contracted in transparent conditions.
Program duration would range between 12
and 24 weeks, with intensive training possibly
focusing on technical skills (6-10 weeks) and
internships within a company (up to 1 year).
In some countries companies are encouraged
to participate in programs of this type through
subsidies. In several cases, the subsidy level is
inversely proportional to the firm’s turnover.
Companies who choose to participate must
guarantee payroll stability for a specific amount
of time. Given El Salvador’s fiscal limitations,
operating under a subsidy scheme of this
type might be difficult. However a number of
options might deserve consideration, such as
broadening INSAFORP’s contribution system
and redirecting its role toward supporting
such programs, or channeling additional funds
through the Competitiveness Support Fund
described above.
7. Promoting entrepreneurship and connecting
micro, small and medium enterprises with the
market
More than one third of the economically
active population in El Salvador is self-
employed or employed by micro, small and
medium companies (DYGESTIC, 2006).
However workers and employers in this sector
are at a clear disadvantage with those in larger
companies and the public sector. Reasons
why access to decent work opportunities is
more difficult for micro, small and medium
companies and self-employed workers include
high transaction costs to enter productive
chains, low levels of partnership-building,
scarce access to information on the way
Elements for a National Employment and Social Cohesion Pact
markets operate, and isolation from markets.
In addition, large companies usually have the
upper hand in terms of benefits, guarantees,
backing, facilities, and sometimes even
subsidies and tax exemptions.
Micro, small and medium enterprises and
self-employed workers do not usually
produce in response to market demand.
Rather, they tend to produce what they do
best, their activities being supply-driven.
These sectors are therefore isolated from the
market, as they struggle to enter production
chains, or do so at a disadvantage. In order
for this significant part of the private sector
to generate decent jobs, public policies
linking them to the market are required, as
suggested below:
a. Endorsing the Supplier Development Program: the Employment programs
program’s objective is to insert small enterprises for young people
into production chains as suppliers to large are one of the most
companies, guaranteeing mutual gains in spite
effective strategies
of unequal bargaining power. It is currently
implemented in the country, following the to prevent crime,
Mexican model, and seeks to find a place for by enabling their
small enterprises in the market, from where productive and social
they can increase their sales and the welfare
of their workers through productivity and
integration
competitiveness gains. Based on a study of the
national market, the program aims to match
small and medium companies’ offer and large
companies’ demand, in order to establish long-
lasting commercial relationships that lead to
improvements in the quality, pricing, delivery
times and overall service of small firms. This
would raise their standards and make them
more competitive on the international markets
(Campuzano and Narváez, 2008).
b. A distinct regime for self-employed workers.Many self-
employed workers – e.g. plumbers, electricians,
private tutors – do not have small firm status,
hence the need for a distinct legal and tax
regime, enabling them to link more effectively
with the market. A first step would be to
simplify registration formalities in the Ministry
of Finance. Registration would enable these
15
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008

workers to offer their services to companies in

the formal sector, participate in public tenders,
and deduct VAT from their purchases. Increased
formalization would also allow self-employed
workers to gain better access to technical
assistance and financial services.
Micro, small and
medium enterprises c. Set up a business incubation program, based on
and self-employed successful experience in other countries. This
would enable the creation or strengthening of
workers do not usually
micro, small and medium enterprises. Projects
produce in response would be selected based on entrepreneurial
to market demand. potential, long-term vision and business plans.
Rather, they tend to Particularly innovative projects should be
encouraged.
produce what they do
best, their activities In addition, the Pact should endorse the
being supply-driven. ‘Inclusive Markets’ initiative (UNDP, 2007)
These sectors are which seeks to include as consumers the 2.6
billion people in the world who lack access
therefore isolated from to basic goods and services. The initiative
the market uses market studies to identify niches where
demand remains unsatisfied, and intervene
with innovative business models to bring
goods and services to the poor. In El Salvador,
micro-, small and medium enterprises
should take into account overlooked market
segments.

16
SYNOPSIS
 No one who works for a living should have to live
in poverty.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
The New Deal

Written by the editorial team, with inputs from the Board of Directors.
 Synopsis

Introduction The present Report aims at analyzing the

El Salvador is a country of workers. Not
just because most of its inhabitants have to
work to earn a living, but also due to their
reputation as hard-working people. Hard work
and entrepreneurship are so deep-rooted in
Salvadoran identity that a majority of them
consider that “to be Salvadoran” means to be
hard-working (CONCULTURA, 2007).
Most Salvadorans, however, are dissatisfied
with the labor situation in the country. The
present Report found that when Salvadorans
complain about the country being “in bad
or very bad shape” in terms of employment
(Segura, 2008, March 3d), they essentially
refer to a lack of ‘decent work’ opportunities
(see Box 1). Estimates cited in Chapter 2 of
the Report show that less than 20% of the
economically active population has access to
decent work, which still constitutes a privilege.
Among the rest, 7% are unemployed and
looking for a job, 43% are underemployed, and
another 31% receive an income that, though
above the minimum wage, does not cover the
basic food basket at market prices, in addition
to not having access to social security coverage.
employment situation in El Salvador “from the
vantage point of people” (Haq, 2005). To this
end, and to shed light on less visible aspects
of labor in El Salvador, its focus goes beyond
just remunerated labor or unemployment
rates. As in other UNPD reports since 1990,
its conceptual framework is based on human
development.
The human development concept stems from Hard work and
the idea that people’s welfare and realization entrepreneurship are
should be at the heart of each country’s
so deep-rooted in
concerns. Public policies must therefore
follow a dual approach: on the one hand, Salvadoran identity
focus on building human capabilities through that a majority
investment in people’s health, knowledge and consider that “to be
skills; and on the other hand, enable people
to make the most of their capabilities through Salvadoran” means to
work, participate in political and community be hard-working
life, and enjoy their free time.
A central aspect of the human development
approach is that people should have access to
safe means of earning a living. For most people,
this means having access to employment (a
remunerated position), which according to
the Human Development Report is the most

Box 1: The concept of ‘decent work’

Decent work can be defined as work that offers fair remuneration, social protection for workers and their families, good conditions
and security in the workplace, personal development and social recognition opportunities, as well as equality of treatment for
men and women (ILO, 2006). Decent work contributes to four strategic objectives: labor rights, employment opportunities, social
protection and social dialogue (Levaggi, 2007).
The concept of decent work helps define what a good or a decent job should be in a globalized world. It is relevant from a human
development perspective, as it enables people to increase their potential, improve their capabilities, expand their freedom and live
a life they can value.
In 1999, the International Labor Organization (ILO) put forth decent work as an ethical goal, in response to the deprivations and
exclusion a large number of people around the world experience in their working life: unemployment and underemployment,
unsafe and precarious jobs, gender inequalities, violations of fundamental rights, exploitation, lack of representation, and insufficient
protection in case of illness, disability and when reaching old age (Somavia, 2006).

19
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008

fundamental of all economic opportunities, as
it “provides people with income that enables
them to establish command over a range
of goods and services, needed to ensure a
decent standard of living” (UNDP, 1996).
In addition, work is a fundamental area for
people to make the most of their capabilities
and express their creativity. Decent work offers
people opportunities for self-realization, thus
fostering social cohesion and improving the
level of unity (equity vs gaps) between society
members (CEPAL, 2007). Holding a good job
helps people bridge gaps, promotes their active
participation in the productive system, and
strengthens their sense of belonging to society.
Lack of access to employment, on the other
hand, deprives people from a means of earning
a living, and from opportunities to improve
their capabilities, thus affecting their dignity and
self-respect. Unemployment and precarious
jobs produce inequalities, undermine social
cohesion, and generate uncertainty about the
future, which can have a destabilizing effect on
the political and social climate.
Almost one hundred years ago, Salvadoran
thinker Alberto Masferrer (1868-1932)
proposed universalizing access to employment
as part of his “vital minimum” theory (see Box
2). His idea was that “work is an indispensable
condition to individual and collective health
(…), which is the key to welfare, harmony and
progress”. People were therefore at the center
of his idea of development, something he
shares with the human development approach.
Disparities in labor conditions mean that people
living in the same country can experience very
different realities. Depending on their form of
participation in the labor market, some people
are in a position to expand their capabilities
towards self-realization, while others lack
opportunities to improve their situation.
The realities of Salvadorans in terms of
employment thus vary greatly, determining the

Box 2: Masferrer’s “vital minimum”: work as the foundation of welfare

“Why should people lack bread when they are those who sow, watch and harvest what is needed to make it?”, asked Alberto
Masferrer (1868-1932) at the beginning of the 20th century, faced with the life of want experienced by thousands of workers in the
fields and the cities of El Salvador. This Salvadoran political thinker presented work as the ethical foundation of social welfare.

His proposal, published in 1929, and titled “The Vital Minimum” advocated for citizens to be able to fulfill their basic needs, thus
accessing universal citizenship which defines modern nations. Masferrer’s approach was rooted in the belief that workers deserve to
receive a minimum income required to live decently: “For those who work but live in want, a minimum: the irreducible, the elementary,
the seed that can germinate: water, a roof, shelter, leisure, light, and bread”.

Masferrer considered having access to “hygienic, stable, honest and justly remunerated” work as the foremost “primordial, vital
and supreme” necessity. Other basic needs include “sufficient, varied, nutritious and healthy food; spacious and dry dwelling open
to fresh air and sunlight; abundant and good water; clean and decent clothes; medical and sanitary assistance; swift, uncomplicated
and easily accessed justice; efficient primary and secondary education that forms cordial men, expert workers and sensible heads of
households; sufficient and adequate rest and leisure to restore the strength of body and spirit” (Masferrer, 1996).

For Masferrer, work is the essential social tie: no individual is self-sufficient, and everyone needs what others produce. Work
organizes the community, by making everybody interdependent. People’s social identity is determined for a large part by the fact that
they are workers. Alberto Masferrer wrote numerous essays, often published in newspapers. He also ventured into poetry and novels.
He founded and ran the newspaper Patria between 1928 and 1930. He was also a teacher, a journalist, an orator and a diplomat.

20
 Synopsis

Chart 1: Human Development Index by Employment Status

level of human development different people
and social groups are in a position to achieve.

As Chart 1 shows, people who have access to

decent work in the country also achieve high
human development levels (similar to the
national average of Uruguay, a country that ranks
46th out of 177 on the human development
ranking produced by UNDP (UNDP, 2007).
At the other end of the spectrum, unemployed
Salvadorans achieve medium human
development levels, comparable to the national
average for Botswana (ranked 124th). This
data was obtained by calculating the Human
Development Index for people in El Salvador
with ‘decent jobs’, full-time workers without
social protection and an income below the
cost of the basic food basket at market prices,
as well as underemployed and unemployed
people.

Achieving high human development requires

building a single country, where everyone has
access to decent work opportunities.

Main findings
The present Report seeks to open a debate on
key aspects of the labor market and the working
world in El Salvador, with a view to putting
people (the country’s main asset) at the heart of
the nation’s concerns. Achieving higher levels
of human development is possible, provided
the necessary efforts are made to address the
deficiencies of the Salvadoran labor market.
This section summarizes the main findings of
the 9 Chapters in the Report (see Box 3).
1. Underemployment, not unemployment, is the
main problem with El Salvador’s labor market
Unemployment is a ‘luxury’ that few in the
country can afford. Open unemployment
rates for El Salvador are low in comparison
with countries with high levels of human
development (see Chapter 2). Most people who
need and are looking for a job cannot stay long
Note: WFRSP means without fair remuneration and social protection
Source: Authors, based on Multipurpose Household Survey 2006 (DIGESTYC, 2006) and UNDP,
2007.
without one. In a labor market with a lack of
decent work opportunities, options available to
unemployed people are either to look for a job
abroad (emigrate), or be underemployed.
Underemployment as a source of income is a
widely-used strategy in the country. It entails
struggling to get by and accepting any job
available, sometimes for less than the minimum
wage and for only a few hours a day. Being
underemployed also often means bringing
home an income that does not cover basic
needs, and lacking access to social security.
In 2006, 43% of the workforce in El Salvador
was underemployed, and 7% was unemployed.
This means labor underutilization (the sum of

21
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008

Box 3: The Human Development Report for El Salvador (IDHES) 2007-2008

The present Report seeks to identify advances and pressing challenges with regard to employment in El Salvador. Its aim is to
propose public policies that acknowledge the importance of decent work to achieve higher human development for all Salvadorans.
The Report is composed of 9 chapters and a proposal for a national Employment and Social Cohesion Pact. It was prepared by
a multidisciplinary team of experts who analyzed the labor situation in El Salvador from an economic, social, cultural, gender, and
political perspective.
The Human Development Report presents independent and objective analysis, statistics and other relevant data, looking at
national priorities through a human development lens. It is an important tool to monitor advances and challenges facing the country
The Report for El Salvador (known by its Spanish acronym IDHES) is issued every two years and is commissioned by the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the National Council for Sustainable Development (CNDS). Similar Reports are issued
in 134 other countries. UNDP Headquarters also publish a Global Report each year.

Contents

Chapter 1, The significance of work in Salvadorans’ lives, gathers photographs and daily life stories of workers across the country.
It looks at work from the often overlooked perspective of human development’s main protagonists. Telling these stories is long
overdue, as development analysis often leaves out crucial aspects of people’s lives.
Chapter 2, Decent work, a strategic choice for human development analyzes the Salvadoran labor market from a human development
perspective. It reveals a shortage of decent jobs, in addition to measuring, describing and putting in perspective underemployment as
a common way for Salvadorans to participate in the labor market, which fails to provide them with sufficient income to live decently,
and with social protection in case of illness and when reaching old age.
Chapter 3, Salvadorans as hard workers. Social representations in the working world, reviews social representations on workers, their
condition, and their rights and obligations, which have emerged in the course of the past 185 years. Salvadorans as hard-workers is
one of the most widespread and accepted among these representations.
Chapter 4, Perceptions and expectations in the working world, explores how workers and employers perceive each other, based on a
survey carried out for this Report. It also looks at the meaning of work for different stakeholders, their views and expectations on the
country and the opportunities it provides, and lastly, their willingness to establish a dialogue and reach an agreement to make full
employment a national priority.
Chapter 5, Economic growth and employment. Towards an economy with human objectives, discusses strategies to achieve robust
economic growth that generates jobs, labor efficiency and human development. It looks at how the Salvadoran economy has
performed over the past 20 years, highlighting early successes of initial reforms carried out after 1989. It also suggests adjustments in
macroeconomic and sector policies, based on potentially successful scenarios.
Chapter 6, Employment from a geographical perspective, highlights the need to distribute employment opportunities and human
development more equitably across the country. A geographic analysis of employment in the country’s five main regions reveals
disparities between the Metropolitan Area and peripheral regions. This chapter also suggests development strategies emphasizing
employment creation and optimal use of local resources.
Chapter 7, Protection from life and occupational hazards, offers a detailed description of social protection networks in El Salvador,
specifically the pension and health systems operating with employer and worker contributions. It underlines the need to modify
the financing mechanisms of the current systems in order to expand their coverage and make them more equitable.

22
 Synopsis

Chapter 8, Women and men at work: the persistent gender gap, compares how men and women participate in the labor market. It
shows that despite some progress, women are still at a disadvantage. The chapter focuses specifically on two highly feminized work
areas related to the household: non-remunerated domestic work and remunerated domestic service.
Chapter 9, Education and youth employment for a safer, more cohesive society, assesses the security situation in the country and argues
that lack of employment opportunities for young people, added to educational exclusion and family dysfunction, generates social
fragmentation and undermines the foundations of democratic governance.
The Elements for a National Employment and Social Cohesion Pact section encourages the country to agree on a human development
strategy that prioritizes full employment as a key factor of social cohesion. It suggests a series of economic and social targets to be
achieved by 2021, and some basic elements for the proposed Pact.
The Appendix provides some initial insights on recent developments in El Salvador, based on the 2007 Census.
The Statistical Annex presents the latest indicators on the current situation in El Salvador-

unemployment and underemployment) affects Underemployment is particularly common for

half of the total workforce, a useful concept
to analyze the deficiencies of the Salvadoran
labor market.
From a human development perspective, being
underemployed means being unable to fully
utilize one’s skills and capabilities, reducing
the range of options and opportunities
available to improve one’s life. When someone
is underemployed, it affects society and the
country as a whole, as their labor does not yield
as much as it could.
The current situation is no exception in the
history of El Salvador. “We must face a
tremendous paradox: a job shortage in one of
the hardest-working countries in the world”,
newly-elected President Arturo Armando
Molina stated in his acceptance speech (La
Prensa Gráfica, 1972, July 2nd). This sums up the
underutilization of skills and resources in El
Salvador’s labor market.
Underemployment also means lower individual
income. On average, an underemployed worker
receives half the salary of a full-time worker
with no access to fair remuneration and social
protection, and less than a fifth of the salary
earned by people with ‘decent jobs’.
rural dwellers, women, young people and people
with no formal education. Underemployment
rates are higher in rural areas (54%) than
in cities (37%). Women are more affected
than men (50% and 39% respectively), as
discussed in Chapter 8. Gender differences
are particularly marked in rural areas: 7 out of
10 women in rural areas are underemployed,
against 5 out of 10 men.
The underemployment rate for 15-24 year
olds is 50%, 7 percentage points higher than
for the overall economically-active population
(see Chapter 9). Lastly, underemployment
affects more than half of workers who have
not completed a year of study (54.5%), against
2 out of 10 for people with 13 years of study
or more (20%).
In a market that fails to offer enough
decent work opportunities, a significant
part of the population is forced to turn to
underemployment to earn a living. In the past
58 years, half of the Salvadoran workforce
has experienced underemployment. The
underemployment rate reached 49% in 1950,
45% in 1970, 49% again in 1980, and 43% in
2006 (See Chart 3).

23
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
Chart 2: Average salary by employment status
Note: WFRSP means without fair remuneration and social protection
Source: Authors, based on Multipurpose Household Survey 2006 (DIGESTYC, 2006
Between 1990 and 1995, however, the labor
underutilization rate decreased substantially,
due to an increase in job creation. In the same
period, El Salvador’s economy achieved the
second highest growth rate in Latin America,
thanks to a marked upturn in investment and
consumption following the signing of the
Peace Accords that put an end to the armed
conflict. From 1996 onwards, these trends were
reversed. The economic growth rate decreased
substantially, and the labor underutilization
rate rose. Since 2004 however, there are signs
that El Salvador has entered a new job-rich
growth period (see Chart 4).
Culturally, underemployment has found an
echo in the representation of Salvadorans
as hard-workers, who get by and make
sacrifices to prevail in the face of adversity.
Therefore it has become socially tolerated,
to the point of making it invisible. Since the
country’s independence, underemployment
has traditionally served as a gateway to the
labor market (see Chapter 3).
2. Employee and employer rationalities are at
odds: the former want their salaries aligned
24
with the reservation wage, while the latter favor
market wages.
The current situation of the Salvadoran
labor market is marked by differences in the
rationalities of employees and employers. The
latter complain of a labor shortage in sectors
such as agriculture and construction, as
evident from press articles from the past few
years (see Chapter 3). The former, however,
are not willing to settle for any job, or for any
wage (see Chapter 5).
Rising expectations among workers in terms
of employment type and remuneration have
led in turn to a rise in the reservation wage
(the minimum wage people are willing to work
for). Various factors explain this change in
people’s expectations: a rise in education and
productivity levels, the impact of migration,
and increasing consumerism.
First, the average level of study is twice as high
for workers between 15 and 29 years of age (8
completed years of study) as for their parent’s
generation (4 completed years of study for
people between 50 and 64 years of age). In

Chart 3: Labor underutilization rate, 1950-2006
Note: The 1970 figure for Costa Rica refers to the closest year for which data is available (1976)
Source: Calculations based on PREALC, 1981; Multipurpose Household Survey (DIGESTYC, various years) and
MIDEPLAN, 2005.
addition, productivity levels in 2007 are 43%
higher than in 1991. Unsurprisingly, better-
educated, more productive workers expect
higher wages.
Second, migration affects people’s decisions
when seeking employment. The impact is due
in part to remittances sent by relatives, which
represent the main source of income for 25%
of Salvadoran households, an income often
many times higher than the minimum wage.
Another factor is that people who emigrated
share information on work opportunities
and wages outside the country (in the U.S.
especially), and often offer their help in
joining the international labor market. Third,
workers in El Salvador wish to earn more in
order to increase their consumption of goods
and services. People associate well-being and
quality of life with increasingly-widespread
consumption patterns with regard to fashion,
electronic equipment and fast food.
Employers, on the other hand, are paying
market wages and seeking to minimize costs in
order for their companies to be competitive on
Synopsis
international markets. Their logic has its roots
in the high level of labor underutilization,
a growing economically-active population,
a minimum wage higher than in some
neighboring countries, and the need to cut
costs in some sectors.
First, high underemployment and
unemployment rates for the country show
that a substantial part of the workforce is
seeking better work opportunities. Second,
the economically-active population has been
growing faster than the overall population, due
in particular to women’s rising participation
in the labor market. Third, the real minimum
wage in El Salvador is higher than in Honduras
and Nicaragua, attracting workers from these
countries. To some extent, they satisfy the labor
demand in sectors with shortages. Fourth,
aggressive trade liberalization is forcing the
national agricultural and industrial sectors to
cut costs. One way of doing this is to cut wages,
which are currently not indexed on inflation
and definitely do not reflect productivity gains.
25
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
Chart 4: Employment Status and Economic Growth, 1980-2006
Note: figures for the first two periods are for 1980-1990 and 1990-1996.
Source: Authors, based on data from PREALC, 1981; Multipurpose Household Survey (DIGESTYC, various years) and World Development Indicators
(The World Bank, 2008).
These diverging rationalities have led to a vicious
circle of slow growth, labor underutilization,
decreasing real wages and migration. This
circle has to be broken and reversed in order
to achieve higher human development levels
and social cohesion in the country. To this
end, a social engineering process is needed,
in the form of a pact or agreement by which
employers, business leaders and the state,
without renouncing their interests, ambitions
and responsibilities, redefine their approach
and support a shared vision for the future
based on full-employment and decent work.
3. Education and decent employment generation
go hand in hand in order to improve the quality
of life for Salvadorans.
26
A majority of people see education as an
investment in their future. They dedicate years
to their training in order to improve their
income and employment prospects. Indeed,
the average schooling level of people with
decent jobs in El Salvador (11.6 completed
years of study) is almost twice as high as the
national average (5.8 years). This tends to
indicate that people with a higher schooling
level get better jobs.
While many people with formal education and
training enter the job market successfully, not all
of them make the most of these assets in their
working life. The lack of decent employment
opportunities in the country affects everyone,
including those better prepared in academic
and technical terms.

According to economic theory, a higher
schooling level facilitates access to
employment. This is true of the Salvadoran
labor market with regard to underemployment:
the underemployment rate decreases as the
schooling level increases (see Chapter 2).
However, the unemployment rate is higher
for segments of the population with higher
schooling levels.
Underemployment is lower among workers
with 7 years of study or more, according to data
from 2006. Workers with a lower schooling
level are more likely to be underemployed: one
out of 2 workers with no formal education is
underemployed. By contrast, just one out of
10 workers with 13 years of study or more is
underemployed.
Contrary to underemployment, unemployment
mostly affects workers with higher schooling
levels, as evidenced by the following trends
of the past 15 years for male workers: in
1992, 50% of unemployed male workers had
completed up to 3 years of study; in 1998, the
same proportion had completed between 4
and 9 years; and in 2005, 7 years or more.
Unemployment also affects women with
higher schooling levels more (especially those
who have completed 7 to 12 years of study).
In 1992, the unemployment rate for female
workers having completed 7 to 9 years of
study reached 10.6% - almost twice as much as
for women without formal education (5.7%).
In 2006, the unemployment rate for women
having completed 10 to 12 years of study
was more than 3 times higher than for those
without formal education.
In addition, a comparative analysis of four
economic sectors (agriculture, construction,
textile manufacturing and tourism) shows no
direct proportional relation between schooling
level and income.
Education alone is not an answer to people’s
and the country’s problems. Employment
Synopsis
does not appear automatically in response to a
growing number of skilled people. Educational
efforts should go hand in hand and be planned
according to a number of strategic choices
to prioritize productive activities, in order to
achieve the economic and social objectives set
for the country (UNDP, 2005).
4. The representation of Salvadorans as hard-
working people should encourage the country
to move full employment to the top of its policy
agenda.
One of the most widespread cultural
representations of Salvadorans at home
and abroad is that they are hard workers.
Salvadorans from all social groups value work
as the means to guarantee the well-being of While many people
their families, and tell stories of overcoming with formal education
obstacles and rising in the face of adversity.
Regardless of their qualifications and their and training enter
position, they see themselves as and indeed the job market
are hard-working people (see Chapter 1). successfully, not all of
them make the most
This representation of Salvadorans has
been successfully used for communication of these assets in their
purposes, has had a significant impact on working life. The lack
societal institutions, and overall contributes of decent employment
to shaping an optimistic vision of work and
workers. However, it also conceals realities the opportunities in
country needs to face in order for decent work the country affects
to become a national norm (see Chapter 3) everyone, including
The image of the hard-working Salvadoran, those better prepared
a source of national pride, contrasts with the in academic and
hardship endured by millions of Salvadorans technical terms
struggling to get by and emigrants ready to
accept any kind of job. It emerged as part
of the collective imaginary in the early years
of the 20th century, fuelled by the success of
Salvadoran migrants in Honduras.
By contrast, another representation has also
emerged at times in the history of El Salvador:
laziness and idleness, used to discredit workers
(e.g. indigenous people during the colonial era
and peasants after the independence) when
they refused to work in certain conditions.
27
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
In the 19th century, laws against idleness were
passed to force people to work in estates and
public works.
‘Laziness’ sometimes resurfaces nowadays in
complaints of employers and public authorities
about labor shortages in the agricultural
and construction sectors, which they usually
attribute to the impact of remittances. Similar
generalizations argue that migration and
remittances have a negative impact on young
people, by making them lazy, too cozy, and
prone to delinquency.
Representations of hard work, idleness
and laziness are linked to the realities of
underemployment and migration that
The image of the hard- essentially affect young people and are a historic
feature of the Salvadoran labor market. They
working Salvadoran, also conceal the fact that many workers are not
a source of national enjoying the full realization of their rights and
pride, contrasts their citizenship.
with the hardship
However, given that most Salvadorans see
endured by millions of themselves as having the potential to excel
Salvadorans struggling in their working life, representations about
to get by and of hard work can play in favor of a national
commitment to full employment. This national
emigrants ready to
feature should inspire policy-makers to give
accept any kind of job maximum priority to full employment. This
means ensuring that all people of working age
who are able and willing to work have access
to decent work with fair remuneration, social
protection for themselves and their families,
security in the work place, self-development
opportunities and equality of treatment for
men and women.
5. Employers and workers must become credible
and representative actors to promote a national
commitment to full employment
In order to promote full employment
and decent work as engines of human
development, employers and workers should
seek to adopt new ways of interacting, as
current relations are marked by distrust, a
28
lack of solidarity, and a lack of common
understanding and compromise. This
pervades society as a whole, thus generating
frustration and dampening hopes for the
country’s future (see Chapter 4)
A study commissioned for the present Report
(UNDP et al., 2007) reveals that employers are
widely perceived as failing to fulfill their labor
obligations and to respect workers’ rights,
therefore enjoying little social trust. Moreover,
this perception is also widespread among
employers themselves. By contrast, workers
are seen as trustworthy people who fulfill their
work obligations.
The same study, based on the views of
different stakeholders of the working world,
also highlights a prevailing perception that
employers show little concern for other
people’s needs. Workers, on the contrary, are
seen as sensitive people, including by employers
themselves.
These views are in contrast with influence
and power disparities between employers and
workers on the national scene. While the former
actively participate in public affairs through
business associations, the latter are scarcely
represented in decision-making bodies, union
membership is low, and overall they have little
weight on the national scene. The composition
of the board of directors of 20 autonomous
entities shows that in 17 cases, business
associations were represented, against 4 for
union representatives. Issues in the working
world reflects current institutional erosion in
El Salvador, of which the inobservance of
laws, a distrust in fiscal management, and the
low credibility of government and other main
social actors are all symptomatic, according to
various studies (Corporación Latinobarómetro,
2007; UNDP et al., 2007; UCA/IUDOP, 2007).
As key stakeholders, workers and employers
face tremendous challenges. Trade unions
have a vital role to play in order to achieve
 Synopsis

social change. Their limits can be overcome,
and their participation is necessary in order to
change labor relations. Similarly, the business
sector, in all its diversity, should strengthen its
public role through associations.
Fostering social dialogue and agreeing on
a national commitment to full employment
requires legitimate, credible and representative
actors that can defend the interests and
negotiate in the name of all stakeholders.
in the state’s ability to protect citizens, and is a
breeding ground for violence (see Chapter 9).
Employment is a basic aspect of citizenship. It
represents a way out of poverty, and a means to
contribute to society. It enables people to enjoy
rights and fulfill their duties as citizens. In this
sense, building citizenship is an arduous task
in a country that fails to offer opportunities
to earn a living and achieve decent living
standards.

6. Lack of decent work opportunities,
particularly for young people, is detrimental to
social cohesion and undermines democratic
governance
The shortage in decent jobs forces thousands
of Salvadorans to struggle, join the informal
sector, accept underemployment, or emigrate
in search of better work opportunities. This
situation generates discontent even among
employed people, and undermines social
cohesion by fueling income and opportunity
inequalities. In addition, it generates distrust
Young people between the age of 15 and 24
face particular challenges in this respect. They
struggle to find jobs and are more affected by
labor underutilization than other age groups.
They have a high tendency to emigrate in the
first years of their working life (UCA/IUDOP,
2008), and are more likely to be involved in
violent acts, particularly those with lower
education levels and fewer contacts to help
them enter the labor market. All of this is
detrimental to social cohesion and democratic
governance.

Chart 5: Perceptions on failure by workers and employers to meet labor obligations

Note: Questions 23 and 24 of the survey ask respectively: “Do you think employers respect labor rights and comply with labor obligations?” and
“Do you think workers fulfill adequately their obligations?”. This chart only shows “no” answers to both questions.

29
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
Chart 6: Unemployment rate of young people (15-24) by completed years of study, 2006
Young people struggle
to find jobs and are
Source: Authors, based on Multipurpose Household Survey Database 2006 (DIGESTYC, 2006)
more affected by labor
underutilization than
other age groups.
They have a high Data from 2006 shows that 2 out of 3 young
tendency to emigrate workers are unemployed or underemployed.
in the first years of Chart 6 shows that the unemployment rate for
young people in El Salvador is almost twice
their working life and as high as the national average, something
are more likely to be the country shares with most Latin American
involved in violent acts, countries. In addition, half of young job-
seekers are underemployed, which translates
particularly those with
into an underemployment rate of young
lower education levels people 7 percentage points higher that the
and fewer contacts to national average.
help them enter the
Employment, education and training are
labor market fundamental social inclusion mechanisms,
and as such are the best policy to reduce
juvenile delinquency. A series of papers and
case studies commissioned for the present
Report and summarized in Chapter 9 conclude
that repression and longer sentences are not
decisive factors for crime reduction. Keeping
someone in jail costs more (US$ 1,191) to the
state than training them (US$ 1,000) or keeping
them in school, according to estimates based on
official data (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of
Education and INSAFORP, undated). Training
30
and education programs preparing young
people for the labor market are necessary in
order to increase their access to decent work
opportunities.
7. In a country with high level of underemploy-
ment, social protection should not be limited to
workers in the formal sector
Access to quality employment is not defined
only by wages and working conditions. To
be considered as ‘decent work’, a job must
offer access to a social protection network
limiting risks associated with unemployment,
underemployment, illness, and a marked
reduction of income in old age.
Data from 2006 indicates that nearly a quarter
of active workers in El Salvador are affiliated
to a contributory pension system (22.6%) and
health system (27.3%).
These low coverage rates, combined with a
high labor underutilization rate, mean most
Salvadorans retire without a pension and are

forced to turn to the deficient public health
system (see Chapter 7).
Social protection in El Salvador cannot rely
exclusively on contributory mechanisms
financed with contributions from employers
and workers. These extend little solidarity to
individuals outside the formal sector. Subsidies
are necessary in order to achieve even minimal
levels of equity.
Contributory social protection systems in El
Salvador include the Salvadoran Social Security
Institute (known as ISSS), the Public Employee
Pension Fund (INPEP), as well as the Pension
Savings System (SAP) for the private sector,
which is composed of two Pension Fund
Management Institutions (AFP).
With regard to healthcare, 3 different systems
coexist with little coordination between them:
the contributory system, which is limited to ISSS
and programs for teachers and the military; the
free system managed by the Ministry of Public
Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS), used
by most people; and private services provided
by private clinics and hospitals, and non-profit
organizations.
In addition to offering insufficient and unequal
coverage, the pension and health systems offer
low quality services and suffer from high costs
and low efficiency. Their lack of sustainability
is compounded by evasion patterns and
deficient controls. A lack of adequate
mechanisms prevents users from effectively
participating in decision making. Lastly, current
social protection networks do not address
unemployment and occupational hazards, and
there is no program in place to foster access to
decent housing.
In order to promote decent work in El
Salvador, social protection networks should
expand coverage, particularly for excluded
population groups. With regard to the
pension system, recommendations include
Synopsis
expanding contributory and non-contributory
mechanisms coverage, encouraging workers
in the informal sector to subscribe to the
contributory system, and targeting subsidies to
the poor, the unemployed and people with low
income. Systematic controls involving users are
necessary in order to ensure effective payment
of contributions, efficient use of resources and
quality results.
With regard to healthcare, all 3 systems
should be merged and placed under the
authority of the Ministry of Public Health
and Social Assistance or another public
authority. Other recommended measures
include providing subsidies to poor and low- Access to quality
income population groups, implementing a
basic universal benefit package for all, and employment is not
improving prevention, sensitization and defined only by
primary healthcare. wage and working
conditions. To be
8. Women work longer hours than men and
face discrimination in terms of access to certain considered ‘decent
positions, remuneration, and access to social work’, a job must
protection offer access to a
On average, the work day of women in El
social protection
Salvador is 2 hours longer than for men, network limiting
according to estimates from a time use survey risks associated with
(DIGESTYC, 2005). Women work 10 hours
unemployment,
per day on average, inside and outside the
home, with or without remuneration. Men underemployment,
dedicate 9 hours to activities that qualify as illness, and a marked
work (see Chapter 7). reduction of income in
Gender inequalities are particularly evident
old age
with regard to Non-Remunerated Domestic
Work (NRDW), which comprises all family and
social reproduction activities such as taking care
of children and the elderly, cooking, washing
and ironing. In 2005, women dedicated 6 times
as much time as men to these tasks.
If measures of the Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) took Non-Remunerated Domestic
Work into account, in 2005 it would have
accounted for 32% of total GDP. Estimates
31
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
for this Report show that NRDW contributes
more to the economy than the industrial
sector, and almost three times as much as the
agricultural sector.
Persisting stereotypes also generate gender
inequalities in the workplace, leading to
the feminization and masculinization of
certain positions. Many employers prefer
not to hire women for certain positions
because most household responsibilities lie
with them. Occupational segregation (i.e.
confining women to certain productive
activities) reinforces income and opportunity
inequalities, and limits women’s career
options.
If measures of the
Gross Domestic Some progress has been achieved in El Salvador
Product (GDP) took with regard to gender equality in the workplace.
non-remunerated Over the past 15 years, a significant proportion
of the rise in overall labor participation is due
domestic work into to a marked increase in women’s participation
account, it would (from 33.8% in 1992 to 40.4% in 2006).
have accounted for Women and men are in a parity situation as
32% of total GDP for far as decent employment is concerned (the
rate for both is 19%). Additionally, the average
2005. This type of work schooling level of economically active women
contributes more to is higher than for men by 0.6 completed year
the economy than of study (7.7 and 7.1 completed years of study
respectively).
the industrial sector,
and almost three However much remains to be done to achieve
times as much as the equality. The underemployment rate for
agricultural sector women is 14 percentage points higher than
for men (53.7% and 47.1% respectively) and
women’s wages are lower than men’s: in 2006
they represented 88.5% of men’s wages on
average.
Pension coverage is lower for women than
for men, due to lower participation in the
workforce and the formal sector (see Chapter
7). Women’s pensions are lower than men’s, as
women receive lower salaries even in similar
positions; they also retire 5 years earlier, and
have a longer life expectancy. To compensate
these inequalities, the age of retirement for
32
women should be raised by 5 years, and salaries
and pensions for men and women should
follow the same standards.
Democratization should not be limited to
remunerated work outside of the home. It
should also apply to non-remunerated work,
which contributes to household reproduction.
Within the household, the feminization of
tasks should give way to their redistribution
in order to balance time use between men and
women.
9. El Salvador needs a strategy to improve the
distribution of employment opportunities
across the country, to increase the welfare of all
Salvadorans
Fostering decent employment and decent
work to improve human development
requires generating and distributing
opportunities more equitably across the
country. Salvadorans, though they live in
the same country, experience very different
daily realities, depending on where they live.
Each town offers different opportunities
for improving the welfare of individuals and
their families. These depend largely on access
to decent work, education and training, and
social protection networks (see Chapter 6).
In order to analyze the labor market from
a geographical perspective, the present
Report adopts the division in 5 regions with
distinct productive features suggested by the
National Development Commission (CND,
1998). As Map 1 indicates, the 5 regions are:
The Volcanoes, North of Río Lempa, the
Metropolitan Area, Center/South Comalapa,
and Gulf of Fonseca.
Opportunities are mostly concentrated in
and around the capital city (the Metropolitan
Area according to CND divisions). This
severely hinders improvements in employment
conditions and living standards for all
Salvadorans. Levels of decent jobs and health

and education services in the Metropolitan
Area cannot be maintained or increased
sufficiently to match the numbers of workers
drawn to that region. Moreover, other regions
experience a loss of human capital which they
could use to achieve better development.
Analyzing the labor market from a geographical
perspective reveals a fragmented landscape
marked by inefficient use of individual and
local potentialities. The shortage of decent
work opportunities and the predominance of
underemployment affect the North of Río
Lempa region the most, and by contrast are
least felt in the Metropolitan Area.
On the one hand, calculations show that
chances of finding decent employment are 5
times higher in the Metropolitan Area than in
Map 1: The 5 regions identified by the National Commission on Development
Source: CND, 2008
Synopsis
the North of Río Lempa region (DIGESTYC,
2004). On the other hand, underemployment,
the main problem with the Salvadoran labor
market, affects 6 out of 10 workers in the
North of Río Lempa (63%), Center/South
Comalapa (60%), and Gulf of Fonseca (58%)
regions, against 4 out of 10 in the Metropolitan
Area (38%).
Moreover, with regard to wages, workers in
the 4 peripheral regions earn an average of
70% to 75% of what they could earn in the
Metropolitan region (authors’ estimates based
on DIGESTYC, 2004). Geography is also
relevant when analyzing poverty. While 1 out
of 4 inhabitants of the Metropolitan Area lives
in poverty, for the 4 other regions the figure is
1 out of 2.
33
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
In order for all the country’s inhabitants to
be in a position to improve their capabilities
and fully realize their potential, they must have
access to decent work opportunities wherever
they live. This requires making a range of
strategic development choices at regional and
local level that make the most of available
resources and set the course for education,
training, employment and investment policies,
among others.
One possible strategy to make the most of
local potential is the “one village, one product”
approach, in which local communities specialize
in one product for which they have a particular
know-how, with the view to commercializing it
outside of the area. Successful experiences from
other countries suggest that such a strategy can
boost employment, strengthen cultural identity,
promote economic autonomy of communities
and reduce population concentration in large
cities.
10. Full employment and decent work should
be the top priority of public policies and socio-
economic objectives.
Achieving high human development is
possible, provided the country’s real wealth,
its people, is placed at the heart of public
policies and national objectives.
Life stories in Chapter 1 show that people are
not seen to be the country’s main wealth in El
Salvador. Many live a daily reality marked by
low wages, unhealthy or precarious working
conditions, and labor insecurity. But these
stories also show that access to opportunities
can make a difference in their lives and increase
the well-being of their families. People, more
than economic growth or macroeconomic
stability, should be at the top of the country’s
priorities.
Decent work is a means for people to achieve
self-realization, develop their potential, and
broaden their options and opportunities for a
34
productive, creative and fulfilling life that fits
their needs and interests. It is also a means
to reduce income inequalities, offer equal
opportunities and strengthen the sense of
belonging to society. In short, access to quality
employment is key to achieving higher levels
of human development and social cohesion.
The successful examples of Ireland, Singapore
and Mauritius (UNDP, 1996), all countries
which have prioritized full employment and
human resources and achieved high human
development levels (UNDP, 2007), could
inspire El Salvador to adopt similar strategies.
Factors explaining the success of the countries
mentioned above include: (1) a shared vision
for the country’s future; (2) a commitment to
knowledge and education; (3) strategic choices
and incentives (mainly other than fiscal)
to attract investment; (4) macroeconomic
stability; (5) making the most of comparative
advantages and exogenous factors; (6) national
savings policies to self-finance development;
and (7) pacts involving the main social actors.
The present Report proposes an Employment
and Social Cohesion Pact involving the main
relevant stakeholders: employers, workers,
government and civil society. In effect, such a
Pact would be a broadly-agreed, representative
social agreement on the need to extend decent
work opportunities, particularly to excluded
social groups. The long-term goal of the Pact
is that all Salvadorans of working age, able
and willing to work, have access to productive
employment with fair remuneration,
and professional and self-development
opportunities as well as social protection
networks.
The significance of work
in Salvadorans’ lives
 El trabajo en la vida de sus protagonistas

And this is how José Pashaca came to be both

the laziest and the hardest-working indian in the
area.
Salarrué

Authors: Mauro Arias (photographs and testimonies), Claudia Hernández (stories) and Miguel Huezo Mixco
(introduction).

36

To this day there is no indicator that registers
events and emotions in everyday life. Getting
up in the morning, washing, getting dressed,
preparing food for the children, caring for the
sick, catching the bus, earning a living, getting
together with friends and relatives, and going
home to rest, are all activities that count in
people’s lives. We sometimes forget that work
is a decisive factor in order to fulfill these and
other needs. Work means more than just wages:
it is crucial to having dreams and building a
‘life project’, and it is what people and societies
organize their time around.
However, while work (together with health and
education) is widely recognized as a cornerstone
of human development, its meaning and
importance in life is often reduced to the source
of income it represents and a means to achieve
decent living conditions. Consequently, when
discussing the issue, the focus tends to be on
variables such as employment, unemployment
and underemployment, and access to social
protection, thus overlooking the fact that
people also construct their identity and human
dignity around work.
This first chapter is an attempt to shed light on
this latter aspect. It looks at the twofold nature
of work, both as a means of producing material
wealth for society, and as a key element for
individual identity and social interaction.
UNDP reports usually start by presenting the
‘hard data’ on an overarching issue. The present
Report, however, starts with a narrative section
on what work represents for some Salvadorans.
Telling these life stories is long overdue. Reports
on development, including UNDP Reports,
often leave out crucial aspects of people’s daily
lives. These stories must therefore be told to
help us understand better what work means
from the perspective of workers.
The stories below describe activities that are
highly representative of the diversity of the
working world in El Salvador. The findings
The significance of work in Salvadorans’ lives
speak for themselves. All the people interviewed
value their work, modest, risky or complex as it
might be. Just as everybody else, they also have
reasons to aspire to a better job and better living
conditions. In all cases, work represents the main
organizing factor in their social and personal life.
In addition to the financial remuneration they
perceive, work also enables them to obtain and
give to their loved ones those small attentions
that cannot be quantified but are essential to
social life and happiness.
As these stories show, El Salvador is in the midst
of a complex and sometimes rough transition
from an agrarian to a service society, increasingly
exposed to media influence and to new cultural
norms, with consumption quickly becoming a
new form of collective identity. Regular use of
computers, the Internet and cellular phones, Telling these life
together with migration flows, mean that stories is long overdue,
the Salvadoran society is now transnational. in order to help us
Salvadorans tend to see this mutation as a
understand better what
loss of identity, specifically with regard to one
their most highly rated values: hard work. The work means for workers
Salarrué citation that opens this chapter reflects
this contradiction, which contributes to defining
social representations of Salvadorans.
These stories reflect the determination of
Salvadorans, who have a history of rising
above adversity. They also highlight existing
shortcomings and discontent. And lastly, they
lead to the conclusion that it is values and
lifestyles, people’s ideas and hopes, and cultural
aspects which should drive human development
strategies. In short, this means putting people at
the heart of the country’s concerns.
37
Informe sobre Desarrollo Humano El Salvador 2007-2008

A job fair in the gymnasium of the University of El Salvador, October 2007. Students initiated and organized the fair, with support from the Ministry of Labor and
private companies.

38
El trabajo en la vida de sus protagonistas

39
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
A young woman reading job offers.
Young names
People coming and going. Hopeful
youngsters forming endless lines. Young
hands writing down their details on the
forms of companies for which they want
to work, or of any that they feel might give
them an opportunity. They want a job. They
need a job. The schooling and feeding of
many depends on their success, among a
multitude of applicants.
Most of them will not wait for the best offer;
rather they will accept the first one they
receive. Whether the job is located within
the country usually matters little. Those who
already have experience of living abroad
actually prefer that option, even if the job
has little to do with what they learned in
5 years or more of college, or if it means
40
being away from their families again. This is
the only way they can support the lifestyle
they and their loved ones are used to. They
do not want to suffer deprivation.
Those who have never left the country will not
hesitate either if they are chosen. They have
filled enough applications to know that they
cannot afford to decline an offer. They will
go as soon as they receive the call. And if
the phone remains silent, they will try their
luck with local jobs. They will seek those
that supposedly pay better and offer better
benefits. From waiting room to waiting
room, they will run into others they have
met at job fairs.
They will also recognize each other in
recruitment sessions organized by call
centers, together with others who know
 The significance of work in Salvadorans’ lives

English. They will exchange smiles in fast-

food restaurants with people they met in
college. They will chat in waiting rooms,
exchanging stories about their unsuccessful
attempts. On occasion, they will cheer each
other up and wish each other luck. They
will hope not to see each other at the next
recruitment test or the next job fair. They
will accept whatever is offered to them
during this fair, pay attention to everything
they see and everything they hear from
recruiters. They will consider careers in
sectors they would never have imagined,
just because of the instant opportunities
they offer. They will assure each recruiter of
their qualifications and head home, keeping
their fingers crossed and hoping to receive
the call.

María Elena

She has the beauty of people who work the land,

and the resolve that comes from community
work. Dressed in her Agrosal outfit, she goes
straight to the point when presenting plans to
improve the economic situation in the area.
Standing in front of the men and women of
her village, she has nothing in common with the
fearful girl who got married at the age of 16 to
seek protection from her abusive brothers.

When the time came, she promptly seized the

opportunity offered by a project to improve
living conditions through environmental
sustainability. She quickly learned to raise
Pelibuey sheep as part of a project aiming to
benefit families through women’s work. As
other women in the area, she also took part in
training sessions organized by feminist groups
to overcome the obstacles put up by their
husbands when they realized women would
start taking on new responsibilities, and in some
cases would bring in more income than they did.

While her husband works as a private security

guard in the capital city, María Elena takes
care of the sheep and the fowls, as well as the
corn and kidney beans. She needs 15 pounds
of kidney beans and 200 pounds of corn per
month to feed her 7 children, her father, who Woodcutter. “Household work never ends”, says María Elena.

41
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
The corn María Elena cultivates in her plot in the district of Los Trojes, Department of Ahuachapán, serves to feed her sheep and fowls.
provides them with a place to live, and her
husband when he is off work - once a week.
She produces what she needs to feed her
family and the animals by farming a plot of
approximately 2 hectares that her father gave
her.
The countryside never rests, and neither does
she. Dawn finds her already toiling away, and
when dusk comes she is still working. Under
the moonlight and using a small lamp torch,
María Elena picks fruits in the fields. When
she is done, she lights up an oil lamp and
starts the work she does for her community.
42
She often discusses community issues with
other women on truck journeys to the city of
Ahuachapán to buy seeds.
When she meets with them three times a week
to discuss feed for the sheep (which generate
cash for extra expenses and contingencies),
or with the men to discuss sowing, she insists
that poverty is a mental state, and that if they
want to escape it they need to get trained.
She also stresses the importance of ensuring
that other women and families get access to
similar opportunities.
 The significance of work in Salvadorans’ lives

Gabriel

Gabriel is a man of the country, and a man

of arms. He grew up helping his father sow
in other people’s fields, and watching their
properties at night. He joined the army
when he reached the minimum age. He
bought some land in the area where he had
been living all his life, and where he met his
wife of 27 years.

The corn and beans produced on this land

feed him and his family. Consequently,
Gabriel has to take time off from his job
as a security guard in the capital city on a
seasonal basis, to work in his fields. The US$
100 pay he receives every two weeks is not
enough to maintain his wife and children.
Without them, he could not cultivate his
fields. He needs both jobs, and in spite of
their toughness, enjoys both. His son did
not, and left for the US. Gabriel is one of
those men who stick around and are trusted
where they work. The same happened in the
army, later when he worked as a foreman,
and now at the private security company.

On one occasion only, they doubted him.

He was fired from a warehouse when
some materials escaped his control and
disappeared. It still bothers him, having
never faced this type of accusations. He does
not steal, he works. He never complains, as
everybody who knows him will attest. They
also know how generous he is with the
product of his land, and how seriously he
takes his responsibilities. Gabriel is always
alert. In his line of work, moments of
distraction are not allowed. It could cost
him his life, as happened with some of his
colleagues in the 8 years he has been doing
this.

Everybody knows the risks. News of the deaths

appears in the newspapers and on television.
The life insurance his family can claim in
the event of his death would mean little in
comparison with the void his absence would
leave. Gabriel is aware of this and is always Above: Gabriel on his job as security guard. He never complains about it. Below: On the way home.

43
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
on his guard, as when he was in the army, or
now in the fields.
Nothing escapes his attention and he is aware
of every move around him. After a day at
work, Gabriel takes off his uniform and
puts on his day-to-day clothes, checks in his
weapon and hops on a bus home. Nothing
distinguishes him from the others, yet he
remains alert and prepared, as always.
Meggie
They are everywhere. They look the same as
everyone else. They do, however, walk a little
more slowly, and are in less of a rush. They
are unemployed. They have held jobs in the
past, and they are looking for a new one, even
if it has little to do with their training or if they
Meggie crosses the campus on her way to a job interview
44
are overqualified for it. Some of them have
children to feed, or other obligations. Others
want to gain experience in their field, to achieve
their goals. Others, lastly, want to emigrate.
None of them is moved only by desire. All of
them are in need of a job.
Meggie needs to cross the Atlantic, as her
boyfriend did before her. A few months ago,
what she needed was to receive the sort of
training that cannot be obtained in classrooms,
only in the field. She used to believe in her
career and was convinced that it could bring
her everything she envisioned when she chose
it over a renowned university teaching business
administration. She is now convinced that she
is not getting the position she wants because
she does not have the contacts that would allow
her to set a foot in the door. She thinks that at
 The significance of work in Salvadorans’ lives

23, she cannot compete with older applicants

with more experience.

As many other unemployed youngsters in the

city and across the country, she is disillusioned.
However, she is resisting what others have
accepted after years of unsuccessful attempts:
working in door-to-door sales, selling mail-
order cosmetics, waiting tables in hotels or
preparing meals for office workers. She wants
to do something she likes, and she wants to be
well-paid. This, and the fact that her father still
maintains the family, is why Meggie declined
to be trained on a new production method for
a factory job that would have paid US$ 200 a
month.

She is hoping to get a part-time job as a trainer

in a women’s gym. She likes the atmosphere,
Mornings, Meggie goes through job ads published in newspapers and on the Internet
the fact of being paid to work out, and the
pay itself. And more than anything, the fact
that if she can save enough money, in a few
months she will be able to get on a plane and
be reunited with her boyfriend. There, she says,
she will have a fresh start. She will do whatever
is necessary and accept whatever job comes her
way. There, she thinks, opportunities abound
for those like her who are young and strong.
The idea of travelling fills her with hope. She
is not put off by the fact that her mother, who
is about to lose her job herself, thinks this is all
just an illusion.

Amanda

The sound system in the house of Amanda’s

parents is a symbol of her working at a beach
hotel close by. Her starting time is 6.30 AM
and her finishing time 6.00 PM, however if
necessary she stays until 8 PM, and sometimes
until midnight.

She is the manager now. When she first arrived,

a few months ago, she started as a maid. Before
that, she cleaned rooms in a larger hotel, where
she also learned basic English to interact with
guests in the bar and restaurant area, and how
to serve them.
Amanda spends most of her time at the reception of the hotel, where she manages the guest
register and keeps the books

45
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
Amanda has witnessed the transformation of the El Tunco beach in La Libertad.
She enjoyed it much more than other jobs
she had held in the past, as assistant at a law
firm, helper in a clinic, and saleswoman in a
store in La Libertad, where her parents came
to live when she was 2, fleeing the civil war.
These earlier jobs were hard on her. At the
law firm, she experienced harassment. In the
clinic job, though she was still a minor and
not yet out of high school, they gave her an
excessive workload: on top of her contractual
obligations, she kept the books, cleaned the
premises and ran errands. Finally, the pay they
gave her in the store did not reflect her efforts.
This is why she decided to try her luck in the
hotels that were springing up on the coast, not
far from her new home.
46
Amanda is also planning to open up a craft
shop in the area with her younger brother,
who spends his days surfing on his own or
with foreigners lured by local waves. Until she
manages to save the amount necessary to get
it started, she works with her other siblings in
the small hotel. She hired her brother to take
care of maintenance, and her sister as a maid.
The owners trust her with management, which
makes her feel comfortable in her job, and they
respect her decisions. Fights with the staff
just do not happen here (as opposed to her
previous workplace): they all get along. All the
employees are young and liven up the place.
 The significance of work in Salvadorans’ lives

Amanda likes it there. As business keeps

growing, she keeps on learning new skills
and getting better at what she does. She has
no intention of emigrating any more, as she
did a few months ago. She now thinks of
starting businesses that would enable her
to buy some land, build a house and a life
where her parents, who clean and take care
of nearby properties, brought her to start
over.

Luis

Luis started working long before he graduated

from college. After completing a few courses,
he was hired as an assistant to a renowned
economist. The reason was not that he needed
to finance his studies; rather, he wanted to gain
experience. Though he was not rich, money was
not an issue. His mother sent him every month
from the US what he and his brother needed to
eat, study, and live without care. A professional
nurse, she had emigrated and left them with
an aunt and their grandmother to go work in a
retirement home, in order to maintain her family
when their father José Dolores died.

After a career as a teacher, their father had

become the representative for the department
of Cabañas, and was about to become Minister
of Education, when he was murdered in 1986.
Luis still has various pictures of him. In one of
them, his father is kissing the papal ring of John
Paul II during his first visit to El Salvador. To
some extent this defines the family. Luis went Luis spends most of his work day sitting at his computer.
to a Catholic high school, and later to a Catholic
university.

His education choices have always reflected
a concern for quality, and a desire to push his
limits. Now 28, Luis is enrolled in a post-graduate
program that he feels is a useful addition to his
training as an economist. Once he finishes it, he
wants to go to Chile with a scholarship to keep
studying and specialize further. This is part of
his plans for the future, which are all on track.
For now, this young man, who is buying is own
house with support from the Social Fund for
Housing, enjoys working on national accounting
at the Central Bank. He was selected among 300
applicants. He is now gaining useful experience
that he intends to put to good use in what he
likes best: consultancies. After a few experiences
when he was in college, he thinks this is the field

47
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008

The house in an old neighborhood of San Salvador where Luis lives with his brother, his grandmother and his pet.

where he could make the most of his abilities. It work, and considering what the best moment is
is always at the back of his mind when solving to start a family. Luis has very clear ideas about
linear algebra problems at university, working what he wants, and is putting his plans into
extra hours and week-ends to meet deadlines at practice meticulously.

48
 The significance of work in Salvadorans’ lives

Arnoldo

Arnoldo makes guitars in a workshop in

Nejapa, built with Spanish cooperation
support. He works side by side with employees
from venerable manufacturing houses which
he used to compete against. Thanks to USAID
support, they have been trained by masters
from Spain, Argentina and the US, and have
established contacts in Nicaragua to obtain the
fine wood they need and cannot get anymore
in El Salvador.

Like many of his colleagues, Arnoldo has

become more meticulous with his work.
Instead of several guitars a day as before, he
only makes a few each month. He is no longer
a craftsman; rather he is becoming an artist.
The way his guitars sound, the approval of
specialized buyers and the quality controls of
retailers all confirm it.

Arnoldo dreams of signing his guitars, as all

great masters do. He works hard to acquire the
skills that will allow him to be recognized. He
is already getting paid ten or twenty times more
than the US$ 40 dollars he used to receive for
each instrument. Connoisseurs praise his work.
Now he needs his guitars to earn him enough
money to be able to keep on making them for
a living.

Plywood guitars did earn him enough, so

Arnoldo is often tempted to revert to them.
He did not have to skip lunch back then, as
he often does now with fine wood products.
He did not have to endure hardship, nor invest
in shipments abroad, or absorb costs due to
minimal imperfections. He did not have to get
into debt and worry about repaying loans every
month or paying fees to a security company.
He had a workshop in Ilopango, so close to his
house that his mother or his wife would bring
him lunch, and he spent very little on security.
He did not have to pay for transportation
either. Nor did he have to get back to being
an apprentice, as when his father took him to
a relative’s workshop when he was a boy, where
they paid him 5 Colones a month for his work.
He did not have to follow anybody’s orders
either. Arnoldo puts the finishing touch on a guitar that will be exported to the US.

49
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
In this Nejapa workshop, Arnoldo works side by side with guitar makers he used to compete with.
He had found a partner with whom he got
along and ran the business. But Arnoldo wants
to believe in this new approach. He decided to
go back to the training workshop where other
young people from the area learn their trade.
He knows the sacrifices will pay off eventually,
which is why he conscientiously tries to absorb
all the information sent by USAID, not only
on production but also on marketing. He has
two more years of training before he can start
working on his own and see if his bet was a
winning one.
50
Noemí
After a full day working in the maquila, Noemí
looks somber, just as the other women coming
out of the factory. Even if she smiles for some
reason, the accumulated fatigue and the effects
of confinement make her face look dull. This
expression will not go away simply by washing
her face, because she will not get a chance to
rest. When she gets home, she will have to take
care of her children and household chores.
She will go to bed eventually, much later than
she would like to. She will wake up too early.
There will not be a single day in the week
when she can say she has had enough rest.
 The significance of work in Salvadorans’ lives

She will not be rested, but she will go to work

the following day, as if she were. She will get
there on time. As many others, she will meet
the day’s production target, not because she is
motivated, but because she will not be allowed
to go home unless she does. After the work day
is over, she will go home and ask her neighbors
if they have heard of a new maquila where
conditions are better, or if there is a position
available where they work. She will ask herself
if it is worth staying in this line of work.

Sometimes, like the rest of her colleagues, she

will try to let her mind wander, and forget
how hard the day was, just as the next one
will be. She will try to soothe the pain in her
body and look for ways to save a little more
(on food or transportation), as she is having
trouble making ends meet.

She has to be prepared in case they close

down the maquila where she works. There
is no certainty if and when this will happen,
and whether she and her colleagues will be
compensated adequately, or receive only a part
of what they are owed. Therefore she is always
on the lookout for rumors and signs. She has
heard stories of people who where sent home
without a dime after working hard for a long
time. She keeps her fingers crossed that this
will not happen to her, and supports the union.

She knows it is not easy to earn a living by

other means. She has no savings that would
allow her to start a business at the market or
open a coffee shop in a good location. She
cannot afford the luxury of staying home doing
nothing, though her life partner supports her:
both salaries combined are already not enough.
That is why she cleans houses on occasion,
while she waits for an opportunity in a maquila,
though she often wishes she did not have to go
back. She knows that in all likelihood they will
hire somebody experienced like her rather than
one of the new girls whose endurance has not
yet been put to the test. She hopes to be lucky
this time and that the new maquila is better than
the previous one.

Lunchtime at the maquila.

51
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
José Manuel
In Intipucá, there is always someone who is
about to leave for the US. Helped by relatives
who already live there, or on their own,
people have been emigrating ceaselessly
since someone showed the way more than
40 years ago.
Everyone wants to remodel their house to
follow the example of those who emigrated,
and trade the flimsy walls or the thatched
roofs for cement and concrete, decorate
them with objects from their travels, see
their efforts reflected in it, and feel proud.
Just as those who left hoping to come back,
and send money to their families every
month. Just as those who come to visit once
a year, and tell them of everything they
could accomplish if they left.
Some people just take it easy while waiting
for their time to leave. Others work, as
Technology-savvy José Manuel set up his own small business in Intipucá.
52
José Manuel, who had no plans to leave
the country until his girlfriend moved to
California with her father. As a child, all he
could think about was helping his mother
take care of his seven siblings, who she
raised on her own after their father was
jailed for an accusation that was dropped
five years later. José Manuel dropped out in
third grade to sell ice-cream on the streets
that her mother prepared at home. This was
his daily occupation until he was a teenager.
Then he started dedicating himself to
photography, something his father had
taught him, and studying computing, which
he had found out about through a friend in
a nearby village.
Computers are the reason he left Intipucá,
and also why he came back. To learn
about and work on computers, he moved
first to Chirilagua and then to San Miguel,
where he impressed his managers with his
programming skills. Gradually, they gave
 The significance of work in Salvadorans’ lives

him greater responsibilities. This ended

up aggravating one of his superiors, who
harassed him so much he had to quit a job
he enjoyed very much given everything he
was learning.

He then decided to bring computing to his

village. He started his own business with
help from his parents, and from his wife
who supported him from the US. He teaches
classes there and also sells gaming time and
internet access. The corner house he rented
also houses a photo studio and he will soon
open a bakery. José Manuel stills helps his
parents raise his 7 siblings. And he will keep
on doing so when he moves to California
to be with the girl who left as his girlfriend,
and became his wife after coming to visit for
a few days. José Manuel will be one of those
who come back often. And in the long run,
he will be one of those who come back to
live in Intipucá.

Eduardo

Approximately 25 people are walking

among the garbage of the Tonacatepeque
dump, looking for recyclable plastic items
that collectors buy from them every day, or
things for their homes. Men, women and
children come here early in the morning
and rummage meticulously through the
waste until 2 in the afternoon. Elderly
women are the slowest but also the most
thorough. They are never late, they never
stop, and certainly do not take days off, like
young Eduardo does sometimes to go for
a walk and chat with his childhood friends.
They do not stay away days at a time, as he
does to help his family with the sowing, or
think of taking a few months off to take
part in the harvest or any other activity.
They keep on searching the garbage with
sharp eyes, skillfully handling the tool they
invented to uncover sellable items. They dig
up whatever their strength allows them to.
They never throw themselves at objects or
dive into the garbage as Eduardo, whose
eagerness earned him the nickname El Zope
- The Vulture. Eduardo climbs out of the Tonacatepeque dump with his load.

53
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
The Vulture enjoys searching the dump, which
he has seen expand massively in the past few
years. He is oblivious of the smells and is not
put off by how worn all these objects are.
Among what others would find repulsive, he
even digs up food for his four daughters and
his life partner. Very few understand the fun he
sees in this occupation. The ISNA (National
Institute for the Development of Children and
Adolescents) does not approve of him bringing
his children to work. They have threatened to
take the children away if he insists on doing so.
His partner is not happy either about his
decision to live from what the dump yields,
instead of using his training as a builder to
make a living. She begs him to go back to his
Team work is a part of Mauricio´s daily life.
54
original trade, which he learnt with an uncle,
or to working in the fields, or to a job as a
watchman. His mother agrees, and so do other
people who offer him similar positions to the
ones he has held in the past. Eduardo refuses.
He sees nothing shameful or indecent in living
from the dump, as other people call it. What
he finds indecent is risking to be killed every
day for a security guard salary. He thinks those
who have not experienced this life cannot
understand him, just as they cannot see the
good side of the dump. The only ones who can
are the children who come here day after day,
the men and women who search the dump at
his side, and more than anyone else, the tireless
elderly women who are always the last ones to
leave.

Mauricio
Mauricio is one of the thousands of men and
women who sit long hours in offices to make
them function. He is also one of the few who,
when necessary, stays until the early hours
of the morning to solve problems that cost
money to the company where he works. He
is in charge of ensuring that everything goes
according to the plans he designed, and that
these translate into earnings. He is a boss.
His life has not always been easy, however.
Mauricio did not always have access to the
level of comfort he currently enjoys. He did
not always own a flashy red car like the one he
drives now, his dream since he was 12. For a
long time, he did not even have a car. The one
he has now, which also serves as the family car,
is the result of years of efforts.
The same goes for the house they recently
moved into. It is better than the previous one
they had because his professional status and
You can achieve professional success without leaving the country, says Mauricio.
The significance of work in Salvadorans’ lives
his qualifications have improved, thanks to the
time he invested in post-graduate studies. All
the training sessions he attended instead of
being with his family in order to improve their
living conditions finally paid off. He had to pay
a price in order to move out from his parents’
house, where he lived with his wife when they
first got married, and to get something better
than the tiny house they shared after that.
Mauricio is no stranger to deprivation and
sacrifices. He knows what it means to have
nothing, but also what focusing on your
studies and working to overcome your limits
can achieve. He knows what longing means,
longing to see his children more, to be able
go to church regularly, to have more free time
and less worries. He is convinced the time will
come when he can enjoy all of this. Meanwhile,
he goes about his business methodically. He
knows what he has to do in order to make sure
his children eat well, study and improve their
living conditions just as he did with what his
parents gave him.
55
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008

Guadalupe

Each one of the colorful stalls in the city

center has a story. In the case of Guadalupe,
it is the story of a girl who grew up on the
same block where she now works. When she
was little, she helped her mother who had a
stall and sold cleaning products to maintain
her seven children, after her husband left her
for another woman. Today Guadalupe sells
men’s underwear to pay for the lot on which
she has built a house for her two daughters.

Guadalupe is 26. As a teenager, she envisioned

working in hotels or in tourism. After
dropping out of high school to set up home,
she held a few jobs that kept her away from
street-selling. She particularly liked working
in gas stations, and would have stayed in that
line had she been able to find somebody to
take care of her first-born. Street-selling
enabled her to take care of the child, which
is why she came back to the area where her
aunts, her cousins, her older brother and
younger sister also work. The latter did
graduate from high school, but could not
find a job. Guadalupe uses the US$ 4 she
makes daily on average, and the percentage
she gets on cellular phone refill cards, to
repay three different loans: one for the lot
on which she lives, one to build a house, and
one to pay for the right to set up her stall in
the vicinity of a park that seems to shrink
a little more every day. She says getting
into debt is the only way people can move
forward, acquire valuable things and find the
motivation to go to work every day despite
the boredom it inspires her. Her husband,
who works in the warehouse of a hardware
store, shares her opinion. In the evenings,
they make plans for their children’s future,
their house, the 189-square meter lot where
they take shelter from the city. They do not
let the chaos from the city and the increasing
violence affect their dreams. They entrust
themselves to God and hope the next day
will be a good one.

They leave the house at dawn every day, and

At sunset, Guadalupe´s family gathers in downtown San Salvador before heading home head to the city center. After dropping off

56

It takes Guadalupe one hour every day to set up her street stall
their 6-year old daughter in a daycare center,
Guadalupe helps her sister set up the stand that
they share. Her husband watches the baby until
it is time for him to start work. Guadalupe then
helps her mother set up her stand, and does the
same for her own. She then sits and waits for
passers-by to set their eye on the goods she sells.
Lorena
Lorena has been working as a domestic
servant for more than ten years. She chose
this line of work because it paid better to do
the chores in someone else’s house than the
job in a maquila she was trained for.
This job allows her to take care of herself
and her four sons. Their father has never
The significance of work in Salvadorans’ lives
helped, and does not live with them. An
ex-soldier who served in Guazapa, he lives
in Opico.
Lorena has a house in San José Guayabal,
thanks to a housing project for single
mothers financed by the European Union.
She would never have been able to afford
it on her salary. She spends her income on
food and clothes for the children, as well as
their health and their studies. She spends
less and less on herself.
From the furniture and utensils in her house –
a gift from the family she worked for until
one year ago – you would think she lives
relatively comfortably. The expression on
her face when it is her turn to pay at the
57
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
supermarket or when her children ask her to
buy them school supplies says otherwise. It
also explains why she considers every time
more seriously her brothers’ offer to help
her emigrate to the United States and live
with them and work there.
She does not need to be reminded of the
advantages and disadvantages of emigrating.
She knows she could earn much more there,
doing the same job. She also knows that
inevitably, she will be further from her children
and will not be able to see them every fifteen
days as she does now, nor will she be in a
position to guide them or protect them if
something happens. Just looking at her children
or thinking of them is enough to make her
reconsider. She wants the best for them and
thinks the best for now is to stay.
Lorena thinks of her children when considering a risky exile to the US
58
She will wait for her younger child to reach
an age that allows him to understand which
acquaintances he should cultivate or avoid. She
will also wait for the older one to graduate from
high school, as he asked. Then, as her brothers
did when they could not take the job situation
any more, she will leave. She will pass her
job on to someone she knows, possibly from
her community. Everybody thinks she has a
good position there: though there is no social
security, she gets paid better than others, she is
treated well, and does not have any appalling
abuse stories to tell, unlike others. None of the
women in her community would turn down
her position. Even if they did, she would easily
find a replacement. There is always somebody
in need of a job and ready to accept what
comes their way.

The ancient indigo-dyeing technique gave Norma a fresh start
Norma
It was not part of Norma’s plans to become
a business woman. At home, the one who
knew about business was her husband, who
owned a renowned chain of hardware stores
in Santa Ana which had started to expand to
San Salvador. Norma took care of the family
and in her free time she managed a workshop
where she made small wooden saints and altars
with the help of a carpenter and a carver. She
did not have to work hard and her life was
comfortable, as in her childhood when her
father’s income as a doctor easily covered all
their needs.
The significance of work in Salvadorans’ lives
When she was a young child, her father died
abruptly. Later, as a woman, the hardware store
in which her husband had invested 30 years
of efforts took only a couple to collapse. In
both cases, everything happened quickly, and
she had to give up some possessions and some
tastes. In both cases, a woman had to work
with her hands to help the household. In the
past it was her mother, and later it was her. Her
mother did sewing and embroidering jobs and
cooked for other people to earn more for her
daughters on top of her salary as a teacher.
As for Norma, she started dyeing with indigo
the clothes she designs at home to help the
household.
59
Human Development Report for El Salvador 2007-2008
Norma delivers orders using the family vehicle
She also dyes with cedar and other plants
now that conditions at home have changed
and the new and still modest business her
husband has launched is picking up. With
the help of her friend and business partner
Teresa, they created a brand (Las Azulinas)
and took classes to perfect their art, given
by Japanese masters in an archeological
site not far from where they live. Norma
and Teresa start the day together at the
gym, travel together from fair to fair and
from store to store, looking for buyers for
the pieces they make in a workshop that
employs 7 women and generates work for
3 others.
They spend the better part of their day in
the workshop. The product of their work,
symbolized by the blue stains on their gloves
and aprons, is also exported thanks to some
export promotion projects they take part in.
60
The hours they work are turned into money,
which they all take home. The only things
that stay in the workshop are the dead
leaves, and the strong fermented smell that
produces the vivid color – as intense as the
hardship Norma went through in the past.
Mariano
The way Mariano’s father taught him to work
in the fields and take care of the cattle has
little to do with what he has been learning
since he turned 40. The non-governmental
organization CORDES showed him how
he could benefit other people and the
environment with his work, beside himself
and his family. They trained him to use his
land to produce more than feed for his cows.
He started growing corn, kidney beans, fertilizer
beans, lemons, pipián (a type of zucchini),

Mariano uses a cart for his daily tasks
watermelon, cashew, lettuce, and hay of a better
quality than what he used to, having understood
that growing a wide range of products is a good
defense against pest. He is now experimenting
with a fertilizer mix he was taught to prepare
with ingredients at hand, and which in addition
to being harmless to the microfauna, also
cuts costs significantly compared to chemical
fertilizers. However, Mariano has not been able
to stop using industrial fertilizer completely, as
organic methods do not yield immediate results.
They take time, patience and perseverance.
Mariano must wait for the land he owns in
Zacatecoluca to recover from the erosion of all
these years in which he has owned it, the years
it belonged to the person who sold it to him for
next to nothing during the war, and the years
when they grew cotton on it. In the meantime,
raising cattle remains his main occupation.
The US$ 25 he gets for the lemons he sells in
a market of the capital city, the product of 2
years of work, he can make in 5 days selling
the milk his cows yield now that they eat the
The significance of work in Salvadorans’ lives
good fodder CORDES technicians told him he
should give them.
Thanks to their advice, he also started
improving his cattle genetically. He used to
believe that the difference between his animals
and the ones of his rich rancher neighbors
only resulted from the way they were fed and
the amount of money that was spent on them.
Now he knows that what he inherited from
his father can be improved in several ways.
His efforts are starting to pay off: the Holstein
bull he bought very young and bred for this
purpose already gave him two calves, which
symbolize all his hopes. His children’s hopes,
however, are different. His older son left for
the US. His younger one, inspired by his older
brother’s example, helps Mariano in the fields
until he can save enough to go away. Only his
daughters will probably stay long enough to see
their father’s dreams become reality.
61
Informe sobre Desarrollo Humano El Salvador 2007-2008

The Ahuacate river burst its banks, flooding most of Mariano’s plot, including his field of kidney beans

62
El trabajo en la vida de sus protagonistas

63
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