How Do Women Weather Economic Shocks? What We Know

Abstract

Do women weather economic shocks
\n differently than men? First-round impacts of economic crises
\n on women's employment should be more prominent in this
\n recent economic downturn than historically because of
\n women's increased participation in the globalized
\n workforce. Second-round impacts result from the strategies
\n that vulnerable households use to cope with declining
\n income, which can vary by gender. In the past, women from
\n low-income households have typically entered the labor
\n force, while women from high-income households have often
\n exited the labor market in response to economic crises.
\n Evidence also suggests that women defer fertility during
\n economic crises and that child schooling and child survival
\n are adversely affected, mainly in low-income countries, with
\n girls suffering more adverse health effects than boys. These
\n impacts underscore the need for providing income to women in
\n poor countries to help household's better cope with the
\n effects of economic shocks.