Gender-based legislation and female labor productivity in argentine factories, 1895-1935

This working paper examines gender-based legislation intended to protect working women and limit their work activities in manufacturing factories in Argentina from 1895-1935. The goal is to discuss the contradictions between gender-based legislation and female labor productivity. My research, thus far, shows that female labor was productive between 1895 and 1935 despite restrictive legislation limiting what women could do in the factory. Two implications include that labor legislation was either minimally or not enforced in factories. Second, female laborers, in particular those working in textile factories, focused on labor-intensive piece work that they completed at home and beyond the limits of protective legislation.