IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/6507.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Why are women in the Caribbean so much more likely than men to be unemployed?

Author

Listed:
  • Seguino, Stephanie

Abstract

Caribbean women are more likely than men to be unemployed, as evidenced by the economies studied here—Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. This paper uses aggregate data to explore macroeconomic factors that contribute to gender differentials in unemployment. National economic conditions and job segregation explain a portion of gender differences in unemployment, with men more likely to find employment during an economic upturn. Even within job categories, though, women’s unemployment rates are higher than men’s, suggesting employment discrimination. The results imply that economic growth is not sufficient to ensure equitable job access, and more targeted efforts are therefore necessary to ensure gender equity.

Suggested Citation

  • Seguino, Stephanie, 2003. "Why are women in the Caribbean so much more likely than men to be unemployed?," MPRA Paper 6507, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:6507
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/6507/1/MPRA_paper_6507.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Haddad, Lawrence & Hoddinott, John & Alderman, Harold & DEC, 1994. "Intrahousehold resource allocation : an overview," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1255, The World Bank.
    2. Gunseli Berik, 2000. "Mature Export-Led Growth and Gender Wage Inequality in Taiwan," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(3), pages 1-26.
    3. Massiah, Joycelin, 1989. "Women's lives and livelihoods: A view from the Commonwealth Caribbean," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 17(7), pages 965-977, July.
    4. Ghazala Azmat & Maia Güell & Alan Manning, 2006. "Gender Gaps in Unemployment Rates in OECD Countries," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(1), pages 1-38, January.
    5. Barro, Robert J & Lee, Jong-Wha, 2001. "International Data on Educational Attainment: Updates and Implications," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 53(3), pages 541-563, July.
    6. Standing, Guy, 1989. "Global feminization through flexible labor," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 17(7), pages 1077-1095, July.
    7. Brenda Wyss, 1999. "Culture and Gender In Household Economies: The Case of Jamaican Child Support Payments," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(2), pages 1-24.
    8. R. N. Olsen & A. Coppin, 2001. "The Determinants of Gender Differences in Income in Trinidad and Tobago," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(5), pages 31-56.
    9. Nieves Lázaro & Marı´a Luisa Moltó & Rosario Sánchez, 2000. "Unemployment Determinants for Women in Spain," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 14(1), pages 53-77, March.
    10. Miles, Rebecca, 2002. "Employment and Unemployment in Jordan: The Importance of the Gender System," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 413-427, March.
    11. Cagatay, Nilufer & Ozler, Sule, 1995. "Feminization of the labor force: The effects of long-term development and structural adjustment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(11), pages 1883-1894, November.
    12. Augustin Fosu, 2000. "Racial and gender differences in unemployment patterns in an urban labor market: The case of detroit," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 27(3), pages 35-47, March.
    13. William A. Darity & Patrick L. Mason, 1998. "Evidence on Discrimination in Employment: Codes of Color, Codes of Gender," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 63-90, Spring.
    14. Addington Coppin, 1996. "Male and female earnings in the Caribbean economy of Barbados: A human capital perspective," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 25(2), pages 61-75, December.
    15. Shelly Lundberg & Robert A. Pollak, 1996. "Bargaining and Distribution in Marriage," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 139-158, Fall.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Taniya Ghosh & Sanika S. Ramanayake, 2021. "The macroeconomics of gender equality," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 1955-1977, April.
    2. Riadh Ben Jelili, "undated". "The Arab Region's Unemployment Problem Revisited," API-Working Paper Series 1015, Arab Planning Institute - Kuwait, Information Center.
    3. Zhang, Dandan & Liu, Yaxuan & Zhao, Yiling, 2024. "Working mothers' dilemma during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    4. Stephanie Seguino & Caren Grown, 2006. "Gender equity and globalization: macroeconomic policy for developing countries," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(8), pages 1081-1104.
    5. Stuart, Sheila, 2014. "The Beijing Platform For Action: twenty years of implementation in the Caribbean," Sede Subregional de la CEPAL para el Caribe (Estudios e Investigaciones) 38261, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    6. repec:ilo:ilowps:411249 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Reddock, Rhoda. & Bobb-Smith, Yvonne., 2008. "Reconciling work and family : issues and policies in Trinidad and Tobago," ILO Working Papers 994112493402676, International Labour Organization.
    8. Adem Gök & Merve Ünlüoğlu, 2024. "The Role of Foreign Direct Investment Inflows on Labour Force Participation Rate of Women: A Dynamic Panel Data Analysis," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 67(2), pages 523-546, June.
    9. Stephanie Seguino & Caren A. Grown, 2006. "Feminist-Kaleckian Macroeconomic Policy for Developing Countries," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_446, Levy Economics Institute.
    10. Arora, Diksha & Braunstein, Elissa & Seguino, Stephanie, 2023. "A macro analysis of gender segregation and job quality in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stephanie Seguino, 2008. "Gender, Distribution, and Balance of Payments (revised 10/08)," Working Papers wp133_revised, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    2. Assaad, Ragui & Arntz, Melanie, 2005. "Constrained Geographical Mobility and Gendered Labor Market Outcomes Under Structural Adjustment: Evidence from Egypt," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 431-454, March.
    3. Sule Ozler, 2001. "Export Led Industrialization and Gender Differences in Job Creation and Destruction: Micro Evidence from The Turkish Manufacturing Sector," Working Papers 0116, Economic Research Forum, revised 06 2001.
    4. Ozay, Ozge, 2015. "Is capital deepening process male-biased? The case of Turkish manufacturing sector," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 26-37.
    5. Dipankar Purkayastha, 1999. "Patriarchal Monopoly and Economic Development," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(2), pages 61-78.
    6. Gunatilaka, Ramani., 2013. "To work or not to work? : Factors holding women back from market work in Sri Lanka," ILO Working Papers 994838403402676, International Labour Organization.
    7. Alan Gilbert, 1994. "Third World Cities: Poverty, Employment, Gender Roles and the Environment during a Time of Restructuring," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 31(4-5), pages 605-633, May.
    8. Seguino, Stephanie, 2007. "Is more mobility good?: Firm mobility and the low wage-low productivity trap," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 27-51, March.
    9. Mariano Rojas, 2010. "Intra-Household Arrangements and Economic Satisfaction," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 225-241, April.
    10. Adam, Christopher & Hoddinott, John & Ligon, Ethan A., 2011. "Dynamic intrahousehold bargaining, matrimonial property law and suicide in Canada," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt4dm5w8v1, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    11. Bussmann, Margit, 2009. "The Effect of Trade Openness on Women's Welfare and Work Life," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 1027-1038, June.
    12. Thomas Haan & Theo Offerman & Randolph Sloof, 2017. "Discrimination in the Labour Market: The Curse of Competition between Workers," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(603), pages 1433-1466, August.
    13. Behrman, Jere R. & Skoufias, Emmanuel, 2004. "Correlates and determinants of child anthropometrics in Latin America: background and overview of the symposium," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 335-351, December.
    14. Mukhopadhyay, Ujjaini & Chaudhuri, Sarbajit, 2011. "Economic liberalization, gender wage inequality and welfare – a theoretical analysis," MPRA Paper 32954, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Pervaiz, Zahid & Chani, Muhammad Irfan & Jan, Sajjad Ahmad & Chaudhary, Amatul R., 2011. "Gender inequality and economic growth: a time series analysis for Pakistan," MPRA Paper 37176, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2011.
    16. Erturk, Korkut & Darity, William Jr., 2000. "Secular Changes in the Gender Composition of Employment and Growth Dynamics in the North and the South," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(7), pages 1231-1238, July.
    17. Xu, Zeyu, 2007. "A survey on intra-household models and evidence," MPRA Paper 3763, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Jere R. Behrman & Andrew D. Foster & Mark R. Rosenzweig & Prem Vashishtha, 1999. "Women's Schooling, Home Teaching, and Economic Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(4), pages 682-714, August.
    19. Alena Bičáková, 2016. "Gender unemployment gaps in the EU: blame the family," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-31, December.
    20. Dildar, Yasemin, 2015. "Patriarchal Norms, Religion, and Female Labor Supply: Evidence from Turkey," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 40-61.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender; unemployment; growth and development; Caribbean; inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:6507. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.