Power relations and cultural aspects that are not founded in labour-market dynamics contribute to this exclusion (ECLAC and others, 2013). It is striking that labour-force participation did not see a proportional increase in the group with the least formal education, meaning that the slight increase in the participation rate —in both urban and rural areas— above all reflected rising formal education levels among women, since labour-force participation tends to increase in line with the number of years of schooling. Female labour-force participation increased in all age groups, which the exception of the youngest women, among whom —as with males of the same age— there was little change owing to a longer-term tendency to remain longer in the education system.