The Gender Inequality Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Nigerian Labour Market

Ana Karen Díaz Méndez and Bruno Martorano

Journal of African Economies, 2026, vol. 35, issue 1, ejaf006.

Abstract: This study investigates the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the Nigerian labour market and its consequences in terms of gender inequality. While previous studies focus on the situation of the household heads (or the main respondent) in the months that followed the pandemic outbreak, we have utilised a representative panel of adults that tracks them at baseline (2018/19) and in three rounds of the High-Frequency Phone Surveys during the COVID-19 pandemic (September 2020, February 2021 and March 2022). Our study shows that previous studies underestimated the differential impact of the crisis on men and women since women experienced more adverse employment reductions. Gender inequality overlaps with other dimensions of inequality, exacerbating pre-existing conditions of marginalisation for women. Indeed, vulnerable groups, such as young women, women with children and those from the poorest pre-crisis consumption quantiles, were hardest hit.

Date: 2026
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