Informality and Gender Gaps Going Hand in Hand
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Summary:
In sub-Saharan Africa women work relatively more in the informal sector than men. Many factors could explain this difference, including women’s lower education levels, legal barriers, social norms and demographic characteristics. Cross-country comparisons indicate strong associations between gender gaps and higher female informality. This paper uses microdata from Senegal to assess the probability of a worker being informal, and our main findings are: (i) in urban areas, being a woman increases this probability by 8.5 percent; (ii) education is usually more relevant for women; (iii) having kids reduces men’s probability of being informal but increases women’s.
Series:
Working Paper No. 2019/112
Subject:
Education Gender Gender inequality Informal employment Labor Women
English
Publication Date:
May 23, 2019
ISBN/ISSN:
9781498314718/1018-5941
Stock No:
WPIEA2019112
Pages:
34
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