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Gender and Employment in the COVID-19 Recession: Evidence on “She-cessions”

Author

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  • Mr. John C Bluedorn
  • Francesca Caselli
  • Mr. Niels-Jakob H Hansen
  • Mr. Ippei Shibata
  • Ms. Marina Mendes Tavares

Abstract

Early evidence on the pandemic’s effects pointed to women’s employment falling disproportionately, leading observers to call a “she-cession.” This paper documents the extent and persistence of this phenomenon in a quarterly sample of 38 advanced and emerging market economies. We show that there is a large degree of heterogeneity across countries, with over half to two-thirds exhibiting larger declines in women’s than men’s employment rates. These gender differences in COVID-19’s effects are typically short-lived, lasting only a quarter or two on average. We also show that she-cessions are strongly related to COVID-19’s impacts on gender shares in employment within sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Mr. John C Bluedorn & Francesca Caselli & Mr. Niels-Jakob H Hansen & Mr. Ippei Shibata & Ms. Marina Mendes Tavares, 2021. "Gender and Employment in the COVID-19 Recession: Evidence on “She-cessions”," IMF Working Papers 2021/095, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2021/095
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Giulia Bettin & Isabella Giorgetti & Stefano Staffolani, 2024. "The impact of Covid-19 lockdown on the gender gap in the Italian labour market," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 1-33, March.
    2. Seghezzi, Francesco & Serrani, Lavinia & Negri, Stefania & Virgili, Valeria, 2023. "DEFEN-CE: Social Dialogue in Defence of Vulnerable GroupsinPost-COVID-19 LabourMarkets. Report on Italy and Spain," SocArXiv v3zt7, Center for Open Science.
    3. Fiaschi, Davide & Tealdi, Cristina, 2023. "The attachment of adult women to the Italian labour market in the shadow of COVID-19," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    4. Elisa Brini & Stefani Scherer & Agnese Vitali, 2024. "Gender and Beyond: Employment Patterns during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(3), pages 1-23, June.
    5. Stefani Milovanska-Farrington, 2021. "The Effect of COVID-19 as an Economic Shock on the Gender and Ethnic Gap in Labour Market Outcomes," Studies in Microeconomics, , vol. 9(2), pages 227-255, December.
    6. Brindusa Mihaela RADU & Mariana BALAN, 2022. "The Covid-19 Pandemic: Labour Market Implications For Youth Women," Internal Auditing and Risk Management, Athenaeum University of Bucharest, vol. 66(2), pages 9-19, September.
    7. Geoffrey M. Ducanes & Vincent Jerald Ramos, 2023. "COVID-19 Lockdowns, Women's Employment, and the Motherhood Penalty: Evidence from the Philippines," Department of Economics, Ateneo de Manila University, Working Paper Series 202304, Department of Economics, Ateneo de Manila University.
    8. Fukai, Taiyo & Ikeda, Masato & Kawaguchi, Daiji & Yamaguchi, Shintaro, 2023. "COVID-19 and the employment gender gap in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    9. Pamela Campa & Jesper Roine & Svante Strömberg, 2021. "Unequal Labour Market Impacts of COVID-19 in Sweden — But Not Between Women and Men," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 56(5), pages 264-269, September.
    10. Hu, Jiayin & Wang, Xuan & Yang, Qingxu & Yi, Junjian, 2024. "Gender disparities in the labor market during COVID-19 lockdowns: Evidence from online job postings and applications in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 223(C), pages 199-215.
    11. Sanna Nivakoski & Massimiliano Mascherini, 2021. "Gender Differences in the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Employment, Unpaid Work and Well-Being in the EU," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 56(5), pages 254-260, September.
    12. Cortes, Guido Matias & Forsythe, Eliza, 2021. "The heterogenous labour market impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," CLEF Working Paper Series 40, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.
    13. David H. Bernstein & Andrew B. Martinez, 2021. "Jointly Modeling Male and Female Labor Participation and Unemployment," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-14, December.
    14. Fukai, Taiyo & Ikeda, Masato & Kawaguchi, Daiji & Yamaguchi, Shintaro, 2021. "COVID-19 and the Employment Gender Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 14711, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Davide Fiaschi & Cristina Tealdi, 2022. "Young people between education and the labour market during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 43(7), pages 1719-1757, July.
    16. Fiaschi, Davide & Tealdi, Cristina, 2022. "Scarring Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Italian Labour Market," IZA Discussion Papers 15102, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Ali Zarifhonarvar, 2023. "A Survey on the Impact of Covid-19 on the Labor Market," The Journal of Social Sciences Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 9(1), pages 1-10, 03-2023.
    18. Bluedorn, John & Caselli, Francesca & Hansen, Niels-Jakob & Shibata, Ippei & Tavares, Marina M., 2023. "Gender and employment in the COVID-19 recession: Cross-Country evidence on “She-Cessions”," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    19. Pizzinelli, Carlo & Shibata, Ippei, 2023. "Has COVID-19 induced labor market mismatch? Evidence from the US and the UK," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

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