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Volume 4, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 2754-026X
  • E-ISSN: 2754-0278

Abstract

El Salvador’s apparel sector is the leading manufacturing employer in Central America, providing jobs for women who often serve as the primary income earners for their families. The growth in El Salvador’s apparel manufacturing sector and, by extension, its economy, is closely tied to the Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), implemented in 2006. This study aimed to analyse the relationship between El Salvador’s export and import growth and the five indicators of the United Nations Development Program Gender Inequality Index: (1) maternal mortality rate, (2) adolescent birth rate, (3) secondary educational attainment, (4) women in parliament seats and (5) labour force participation rate. This mixed-method study used multivariate regression models and fifteen in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Personal narratives from women who have either worked or are currently working in the Salvadoran apparel manufacturing industry were compared with the results for a more holistic interpretation of the findings. We found that the implementation of the CAFTA-DR impacted each indicator of gender inequality and that the study participants actively sought to close these gaps through community-building, educational attainment and professional development. This study’s limitations include a small sample size that does not provide a holistic representation of every apparel factory employee’s experience in Central America, limited data collected on participants’ socio-economic status and the researchers’ primary language being English.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Fulbright U.S. Student Research Program, sponsored by the US Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE) (Award 587728259)
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/content/journals/10.1386/sft_00063_1
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The impacts of CAFTA-DR on gender inequality and apparel trade in El Salvador
International Journal of Sustainable Fashion & Textiles 4, 179 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1386/sft_00063_1
/content/journals/10.1386/sft_00063_1
/content/journals/10.1386/sft_00063_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): apparel manufacturing; Central America; decent work and economic growth; Gender Inequality Index; globalization; Heckscher-Ohlin Factor Proportions Theory; international trade; textile and apparel industries

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