responsibilities our results show that it is not a solution for workers who need to care for your children. In addition, telework may not be feasible for all types of jobs or industries.

# 6. Conclusion

In Mexico, the percentage of women active in the labor force is less than two-thirds the rate of active men. This difference between women’s and men’s labor participation is one of the most critical sources of gender inequality, and it can only be addressed if women’s barriers to work are identified and start to be a priority for policymakers in Mexico.

This paper aims to provide support with an analytical framework and empirical evidence for policy to promote responsive labor force participation strategies by studying the extent to which teleworking could help to increase women’s participation in the labor market. Women with a higher fixed cost to work, such as small children at home, are more likely to be out of the labor force. Our results indicate that the level of schooling is crucial to determining which women have the possibility of combining household tasks with their paid job.<sup>32</sup> Indeed, access to telework could increase female labor force participation, particularly among collegeeducated women. While the group of college-educated women is not the largest share of potential female workers, it likely represents one of the most productive untapped potential sources of growth. In fact, 1 out of 5 women with higher education remain outside the labor market in Mexico (OECD, 2019), a statistic that worsened with the pandemic. Bringing them to work will result in productivity and growth gains.

In addition, to ensure that everyone can enjoy the benefits of teleworking, it will be necessary to both increase access to the internet and close the skill gap among different worker groups. On the first, interventions to strengthen access to technology and the internet, along with competent teachers to provide education in digital skills will be needed. Moreover, training should focus on the digital skills that satisfy the needs of firms demanding these services. The purpose should be to acquire the right set of technological skills to facilitate access to the labor force. Finally, there may be need for targeted policies that aim to increase the capacity for telework for disadvantaged workers such as rural workers.

Beyond the need to reduce the skills gap in digital technology, there is need to address the care responsibilities that women face. Telework can ease the costs of participating in the labor force, but it does not make up for the burden of care that Mexican women face. Our finding that family characteristics divide labor force status between men and women and affect women’s decision to work has policy implications: women’s employment is closely tied to their family conditions. To support women’s labor force participation, well-designed policies that encourage part-time and hybrid work arrangements, along with well-thought-out child and senior care programs, will be needed.

Increasing female labor force participation is crucial for economic development. No country could grow to its fullest potential if it leaves out almost 50 percent of the population in the productivity process.

> 32 Our results are in line with Rani & Unni  (2009). They find that the level of education, the fixed cost of working, and the cultural and social environment influences women's home-based employment decision. Opposite to women, men do not consider such factors when deciding where and how to work.

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