Digitalization and Employment Gender Gaps During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean
IMF Working Papers, January 12, 2024
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- Digitalization and Employment Gender Gaps During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: Yuanchen Yang, Manuk Ghazanchyan, Silvia Granados-Ibarra, Gustavo Canavire-Bacarreza
- Published: January 12, 2024
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400263248.001
Summary overview
- Paper examines how digitalization affected gender gaps in employment and job loss related to the COVID-19 crisis in a sample of Latin American countries.
- Main conclusion: higher levels of digitalization are associated with increased female employment and reduced job loss for both men and women.
- These associations persist after controlling for child care, household chores, and the COVID-19 shock and are robust to various econometric techniques.
Key findings
- Higher levels of digitalization are associated with increased female employment.
- Higher levels of digitalization are associated with reduced job loss for both men and women.
- The mitigating role of digitalization on labor-market impacts holds even after controlling for:
- child care,
- household chores,
- the COVID-19 shock.
- Results are robust across various econometric techniques.
Context and interpretation
- The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated Latin America's digitalization, increasing connectivity and digital services.
- Digitalization helped mitigate the pandemic's negative impact on labor markets, particularly for workers with flexibility to continue working from home.
- The shock disproportionately affected women due to household responsibilities and labor market characteristics.
Subjects and keywords
- Subjects: COVID-19, Digitalization, Employment, Gender, Health, Labor, Technology, Unemployment, Women
- Keywords: Caribbean, Caribbean's digitalization, context ofthe COVID-19 crisis, COVID-19, digitalization, Employment, employment gender gaps, female employment, growth, internet access, labor market characteristic, Unemployment, Women
Content in this bundle
- Working Paper