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Gender and Employment in the COVID-19 Recession: Evidence on “She-cessions”
Author:
Mr. John C Bluedorn
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Mr. Francesco Caselli null

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Mr. Niels-Jakob H Hansen
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Mr. Ippei Shibata null

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Ms. Marina Mendes Tavares
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Series:
IMF Working Papers
Volume/Issue:
Volume 2021: Issue 095
Language:
English
Publication Date:
31 Mar 2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513575926.001
ISBN:
9781513575926
ISSN:
1018-5941
Pages:
24
Keywords:
COVID-19 recession; Employment; Gender; sectoral employment; labor force participation contribution; gender gap change; labor market change; sectoral workforce composition; Employment rate; Women; Gender inequality; Labor markets; Global
Legal-disclaimer:
IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.
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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.
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Cover IMF Working Papers
IMF Working Papers
ISSN:
1018-5941
Publisher:
International Monetary Fund