Gender-Based Employment Segregation: Understanding Causes and Policy Interventions

Smita Das and Aphichoke Kotikula

No 30947812, Jobs Group Papers, Notes, and Guides from The World Bank

Abstract: Employment segregation—the unequal distribution of female and male workers across and within jobtypes—is often at the heart of gender gaps in job quality, wage and employment trajectories. Employment segregation carries important costs for the economy, particularly in countries facing a demographic crunch, a dearth of talent among job applicants, or an increasing proportion of households in which women are the primary bread earners. Nevertheless, employment segregation appears to be resilient to economic development and market forces, and it remains present in developed and developing countries alike. This paper discusses the factors that drive employment segregation, and policy prescriptions suggested by the literature. While prescriptions are highly dependent on local context, government policies are most likely to be effective if they strategically address the supply-side and demand-side constraints that are binding for a particular context, address several constraints in parallel if they are simultaneously binding, and carefully consider general equilibrium effects.

Keywords: Life in Transition Survey; data needs; transition from school to work; female labor force participation; external cause of injury; life expectancy at birth; life expectancy for men; Primary and Secondary Education; gender gap in access; analysis of gender issues; gender gap in employment; adult male mortality; male life expectancy; Labor Market; gender wage gap; labor market outcome; violence against woman; gender difference; lack of skill; dimension of gender; health for all; fields of study; adult mortality rate; social and gender; working age population; adult man; Gender Equality; sense of identity; improvements in health; service delivery institution; child care services; reducing maternal mortality; number of women; assessment of gender; acquisition of skill; barriers for woman; voice and agency; participation in society; Junior Professional Associate; moral hazard model; education and health; return to education; high death rate; labor market characteristic; lack of opportunity; higher professional education; disparity in mortality; ischaemic heart disease; health care cost; gender earnings gap; social insurance system; single parent family; long-term fiscal sustainability; Fee-Based Services; higher education institution; labor market regulation; information for women; public health worker; women in entrepreneurship; area of education; girls in education; share of woman; culture and art; human capital endowment; maternal mortality rate; Gender Inequality; gender inequalities; occupational segregation; risky behavior; life satisfaction; Alcohol Consumption; female participation; positive impact; male adult; suicide rate; young woman; young men; probit regression; retirement age; formal statistics; gender disparity; family formation; education level; morbidity rate; literature review; gender imbalance; adult woman; Death rates; university degree; heart attack; productivity growth; gender assessment; designing policy; family responsibility; circulatory diseases; professional school; marital status; local researcher; unpaid work; childcare services; skilled woman; career development; wage distribution; earnings distribution; consumer service; gender asymmetry; wage worker; metabolic disease; model specification; rising cost; labor status; university reform; job market; tertiary level; labor legislation; early retirement; population trend; medical service; illegal abortion; rural area; female graduate; regional variation; social sanctions; Vocational Training; paid worker; young child; working life; child bearing; Social Sciences; employment gap; elderly men; employment rate; labor division; weighted average; circulatory system; excess mortality; significant challenge; malignant neoplasms; respiratory system; capitalist economy; labor code; aging population; work underground; oil well; equal numbers; dependency ratio; gender statistic; healthcare system; breast cancer; cervical cancer; economic crisis; poverty impact; educational outcome; active labor; gender parity; productive years; hazardous job; political participation; institutional improvement; ill health; gender study; gender aspect; rural woman; aggressive behavior; cultural environment; electronic media; government representative; alcohol drinking; research community; unemployment level; political transformation; transition process; theoretical model; Economic Mobility; labor condition; administrative support; subsidiary right; personal care; applicable law; equal access; income growth; national stakeholder; premature mortality; egalitarian society; aging society; previous work; delivery service; academic community; income gap; econometric technique; alcohol production; Equal Opportunity; political sphere; educated woman; employment status; driving force; tobacco ban; negative effect; legislation change; social situation; coping mechanism; Coping Mechanisms; regional disparity; risk activities; career choice; causal effect; Cardiovascular Disease; asymmetric information; gender norm; high unemployment; psychological stress; psychological factors; heavy drinking; legal regulation; labor participation; severely limits; upward mobility; entrepreneurial activity; equal pay (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 61
Date: 2019-01-01
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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