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Gender and employment in the COVID-19 recession: Cross-Country evidence on “She-Cessions”

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  • Bluedorn, John
  • Caselli, Francesca
  • Hansen, Niels-Jakob
  • Shibata, Ippei
  • Tavares, Marina M.

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 sample of 38 advanced and emerging market economies. We show that there is a large degree of heterogeneity across countries, with about two-thirds exhibiting larger declines in women's than men's employment rates. These gender differences in COVID-19′s effects were typically short-lived, lasting 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

  • 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).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:81:y:2023:i:c:s0927537122001981
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2022.102308
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    Cited by:

    1. Kabir Dasgupta & Linda Kirkpatrick & Alexander Plum, 2024. "Parental Employment at the Onset of the Pandemic: Effects of Lockdowns and Government Policies," Working Papers 2024-02, Auckland University of Technology, Department of Economics.
    2. Livia Alfonsi & Mary Namubiru & Sara Spaziani, 2024. "Gender gaps: back and here to stay? Evidence from skilled Ugandan workers during COVID-19," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 999-1046, September.
    3. Schroeter, Sofia & Lalive, Rafael & Karunanethy, Kalaivani, 2024. "School Closures and Parental Labor Supply: Differential Effects of Anticipated and Unanticipated Closures," IZA Discussion Papers 17371, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Kabir Dasgupta & Linda Kirkpatrick & Alexander Plum, 2024. "Parental Employment at the Onset of the Pandemic: Effects of Lockdowns and Government Policies," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2024-012, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    5. Sarra Ben Yahmed & Francesco Berlingieri & Eduard Brüll, 2024. "Local Labour Market Resilience: The Role of Digitalisation and Working from Home," CESifo Working Paper Series 11114, CESifo.
    6. Upali Deb & Rudra Narayan Gupta & Chayan Basu & Mousumi Dutta & Zakir Husain, 2024. "Stalled Progress? Evidence from American Time Use Data on Gender Differences in Time Spent on Economic Activities," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 67(3), pages 681-708, September.
    7. Lafuente, Cristina & Ruland, Astrid & Santaeulàlia-Llopis, Raül & Visschers, Ludo, 2023. "The effects of Covid-19 on couples’ job tenures: Mothers have it worse," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19 recession; Employment; Gender;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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