Bill Expands Work Options for Female Household Heads
By Johanna Sevier, Guanacaste Journal Staff Writer

A bill to create employment opportunities for female household heads will be presented in Costa Rica’s current legislative session.

Lacking the support of a male to share household costs and responsibilities, female-headed households generally illustrate greater vulnerability to poverty. To redress this trend, Representative Carlos Gutierrez’s proposal will assist single, divorced or widowed female household heads in obtaining work and establishing small businesses.

Of Costa Rica’s 1.15 million households, approximately 26 percent are managed by females, according to the National Household Income and Expenditure Survey of 2004. The two proposals presented in Gutierrez’s bill will benefit these households.

The first proposal offers tax incentives for employers to hire female household heads. Employers can receive tax deductions of up to ten percent of the net salary paid to a female household head.

Under this proposal, employers will be exempt from paying income tax directed to the Social Development and Family Allowances Fund. The fund is designed to assist Costa Rican families. Gutierrez argues that employers hiring female household heads should not be required to pay taxes to this fund, given that they are already assisting families.

The second proposal creates small business entrepreneurship opportunities for female household heads. If passed, benefits established in the Small and Medium Businesses Law will be available for female household heads. By helping Costa Rican women develop family businesses, this proposal will result in national socio-economic benefits, according to Gutierrez.