Gender-Based Employment Segregation : Understanding Causes and Policy Interventions

Abstract

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