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Gender differences in employment and why they matter
FIGURE 5.2
Women are overrepresented among wage and unpaid family workers
100 90 percentage of total employment
80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Su bSa h Af aran ric a So ut h As ia M id dl No e E rth ast Af and ric a an Eas d tA Pa s cifi ia an c L d at th in e A Ca m rib e r be i c a an Eu Ce ro nt pe ra an lA d sia hi gh co inc un om tri e es
clines with firm size.37 This decline becomes even sharper when using more restrictive definitions of ownership that account for actual decision power in the presence of multiple owners.38 In addition, female-headed enterprises are more likely than male-headed enterprises to be home-based and operate within the household.39 In Mexico, 30 percent of all female-headed businesses operate from home, compared with only 11 percent of maleoperated businesses; the respective percentages in Bolivia are 23 and 10 percent.40 Female entrepreneurs are also more likely than their male counterparts to be “necessity” entrepreneurs (to view entrepreneurship as a choice of last resort) and less likely to be “opportunity” entrepreneurs. In the United States, women are underrepresented among high-growth firms, where growth orientation is measured by whether the entrepreneur was pushed or pulled into entrepreneurship.41 In developing countries, women often cite the need to supplement household income as the main reason to enter entrepreneurship, whereas men cite the desire to exploit market opportunities.42 That said, the fraction of female “necessity” entrepreneurs declines with economic development, as more economic opportunities open for women.43 As noted, women and men work in different industries and occupations. Globally, women represent more than 50 percent of employment in communal services (public administration, education, health, and other social services) and among professionals (including teachers and nurses), clerical workers, and sales and service employees. They also represent more than 40 percent of employment—equivalent to the female share of total employment—in the retail and restaurant sectors and among agricultural workers.44 Industry segregation patterns are similar when looking at firms rather than workers. In both developed and developing countries, female-owned firms tend to operate in a restricted number of sectors, populated by smaller firms and characterized by low value added and low growth potential.45 Women entrepreneurs are heavily concentrated in the service sector and in businesses that conform more to female roles (such as beauty parlors, food vending, and sewing).46
women
unpaid family workers
paid employees
self-employed
employers
paid employees
self-employed
employers
men unpaid family workers
Source: WDR 2012 team estimates based on International Labour Organization. Note: Most recent year available for 56 countries in the period 2003–08.
These gender differences in employment— with women more likely than men to work in sectors, industries, occupations, and jobs with lower average (labor) productivity—explain a large fraction of the gender gap in productivity and earnings. Gender gaps in agricultural productivity diminish significantly or disappear once gender differences in the scale of operation (measured by land size and use of technical inputs) are controlled for.47 In all but one of the examples in table 5.1, gender differences in productivity become insignificant after controlling for dif-
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Bank and teaching jobs are considered safe and respectable for women, whereas executive and engineering are considered respectable and highpaying jobs for men.
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Young woman, urban Indonesia