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From November 2011 to May 2012, the Global Fairness Initiative, a Washington D.C. based not-for-profit organization focused on furthering inclusive labor markets, and IBOPE Inteligencia, a Latin American survey firm, conducted a thorough study of the sales force of Tupperware and Fuller Cosmetics in Mexico. Through established qualitative tools, including focus groups, and quantitative tools, including surveying approximately 1,600 women, the study shows the impact Tupperware Brands has on women entrepreneurs in Mexico.

Both companies, members of the Tupperware Brands family, offer the basic benefits that participation in direct sales provides to working women. These benefits include a lexible schedule and the opportunity to earn an income through performance (instead of a university degree or technical skill). Gifts and opportunities to socialize are also an important benefit for Saleswomen, the majority of whom need to work to make ends meet. However, the study shows that both companies provide opportunities that go beyond the benefits of direct sales, ranging from the opportunity for personal growth to changing the lives of Saleswomen and their communities. The study sheds light on the companies’ two different approaches to direct sales: different products, corporate structures, and approaches to women’s development. This study will delve into what we have called the "Empowerment Process" of the Tupperware and Fuller Saleswoman and the impact she in turn has on her family and community.

From February 2013 to August 2013, the Global Fairness Initiative (GFI), a Washington, DC-based non-governmental organization that works to promote more equitable, sustainable approaches to economic development, partnered with DEKA, an Indonesian survey firm, to explore how women's lives are affected through their work with Tupperware Brands. Using an established set of quantitative and qualitative tools-including focus groups, surveys, and field observations-GFI and DEKA collected and analyzed data on the lives and livelihoods of over 800 Indonesian women in the Tupperware sales force.

The following report outlines the inputs, systems, and practices that define Tupperware and that support the personal and professional transformation of its sales force. Statistical results of the study are accompanied by an analysis of how these findings answer one fundamental question: "How is a woman's life changed as a result of her work with Tupperware?" Qualitative data, including excerpts from personal stories, reveal the extent to which Tupperware's impact goes beyond the social, financial, and professional growth experienced by its saleswomen to affect their families and communities as well.

This study of Tupperware Indonesia's sales force is the second in a set of studies on the"Tupperware Effect," the first of which was conducted in 2012 with 1,600 saleswomen of Tupperware and Fuller Cosmetics in Mexico. The 2012 study "Empowering Women Entrepreneurs: A Study of the Impact of Tupperware Brands in Mexico" serves as the foundation for the statistical and analytical approach used in this latest research.

Throughout its work, Tupperware Brands has found strong evidence of the empowerment of its sales force. From Brazil to South Africa, women share stories of dramatic changes in their lives: of gaining personal strength and confidence, gaining greater equality in the household, and changing their lives financially. In Germany this process of change has proven true as well: the majority of women surveyed state that Tupperware has changed their lives both personally and professionally.

The woman who joins Tupperware in Germany is an educated woman attracted to the company for its multiple benefits. Overcoming institutional and cultural hurdles because of childcare, she finds in Tupperware a framework for her success. Thanks to the support of the company—which provides her with the backing of a renowned brand, equal opportunities to succeed, a strong culture of recognition, a robust internal communication structure, targeted transfers of knowledge, and a valuable source of income—the Tupperware woman flourishes personally and professionally.
In all three countries studied, Tupperware’s support system allows women to develop and maximize their personal, social and entrepreneurial potential, and to focus existing and newly learned knowledge on building a successful livelihood with Tupperware and a more fulfilling life within their home and wider community.

This study was developed in response to findings presented in a series of reports produced by the Global Fairness Initiative (GFI) that sought to understand the dynamics and details of the empowerment of women in the Tupperware Brands salesforce in Mexico, Indonesia and Germany. The reports were conducted over four years and included quantitative and qualitative data gathered from nearly 4,000 Tupperware saleswomen through the use of in-person and phone surveys as well as focus groups.

Additional data on Tupperware’s Germany salesforce was also collected separate from the GFI reports by the firm COBUS for a separate study commissioned by Tupperware. The combination of findings from these reports form the basis for this study which seeks to look more closely at the specific condition of empowerment for representatives of migrant communities in Tupperware’s German salesforce. The goal of the study is to determine how Tupperware Brands’ unique direct sales model and empowerment dynamics manifest within the context of a migrant workforce in Germany, and to better understand certain conditions and commonalities of the migrant experience in that country.

Les femmes constituent la majorité des membres des associations et des syndicats de travailleurs, mais les postes de direction et les hautes fonctions restent dominés par les hommes. Bien que des progrès aient été réalisés au cours du dernier demisiècle pour atteindre l’égalité des sexes dans les domaines de l’emploi, des affaires, de la participation politique et de la direction, la situation des travailleuses du secteur informel reste difficile et la mise en œuvre de programmes axés sur l’égalité des sexes et les changements sociétaux est lente et inégale.

Ce rapport porte sur la sous-représentation des travailleuses du secteur informel dans le mouvement d’organisation en Afrique, en se concentrant sur six pays africains : Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Libéria, Rwanda, Afrique du Sud et Tunisie. Il souligne les raisons pour lesquelles les femmes ne rejoignent pas les mouvements d’organisation (syndicats et associations de travailleurs) et, lorsqu’elles le font, pourquoi elles continuent à être victimes de discrimination et à accéder rarement à des postes de direction. En examinant le contexte de la participation des travailleuses du secteur informel, nous pouvons décrire et comprendre les défis qui entravent leur capacité à accéder aux postes de direction, et définir les possibilités de surmonter ces obstacles.

Women compose a majority of members within worker associations and unions, however, leadership positions and high-ranking offices remain dominated by men. Although progress has been made over the past half century towards achieving gender equality in the fields of employment, business, political participation, and leadership, the situation of informal women workers remains harsh, and the implementation of programs targeting gender equalities and societal changes has been slow and uneven.

This report investigates the underrepresentation of informal women workers in Africa’s organizing movement, with a focus on six African countries: Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tunisia. It underscores why womenare not joining organizing movements (unions and workers’ associations), and when they do, why do they continue to face discrimination and seldom reach leadership positions.
Through examining the context of informal women workers’ participation, we can outline and understand the challenges that stymie their ability to obtain leadership positions, and what are the opportunities for overcoming these barriers.