How Do Women Weather Economic Shocks? A Review of the Evidence

Sabarwal, ShwetlenaSinha, NisthaBuvinic, Mayra2012-03-192012-03-192010-12-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/3978Do women weather economic shocks differently than men? The evidence shows this to be the case, especially in low-income countries. The first-round impacts of economic crises on women's employment should be particularly salient in the current downturn, since women have increased their participation in the globalized workforce and therefore are more directly affected by the contraction of employment than in the past. Crises also have second-round impacts, as vulnerable households respond to declining income with coping strategies that can vary significantly by gender. In the past, women from low-income households have typically entered the labor force, while women from rich households have often exited the labor market in response to economic crises. In contrast, men's labor force participation rates have remained largely unchanged. Evidence also suggests that women defer fertility during economic crises and that child schooling and child survival are adversely affected, mainly in low-income countries, with adverse effects on health being greater for girls than for boys. In middle-income countries, by contrast, the effects on children's schooling and health are more nuanced, and gender differences less salient. Providing women in poor households with income during economic downturns makes economic sense. This paper reviews workfare programs and cash transfers and finds that the former provide poor women with income only when they include specific design features. The latter have been effective in providing mothers with income and protecting the wellbeing of children in periods of economic downturn.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO EMPLOYMENTADVERSE EFFECTSAGE GROUPAGE GROUPSBABIESBASIC EDUCATIONBASIC SANITATIONBEHAVIOR CHANGEBULLETINBUSINESS CYCLEBUSINESS CYCLESCAPITAL INVESTMENTSCHILD CARECHILD HEALTHCHILD LABORCHILD MORTALITY RATESCHILD SURVIVALCHILDBEARINGCONSUMPTION SMOOTHINGCROSS-SECTIONAL DATACULTURAL CHANGEDEBT CRISESDEBT CRISISDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDISABILITYECONOMIC CONDITIONSECONOMIC CRISESECONOMIC DOWNTURNSECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC PROSPERITYECONOMIC SHOCKECONOMIC SHOCKSECONOMIC SLOWDOWNECONOMICS OF GENDEREDUCATED WOMENEMPLOYABILITYEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT OF WOMENEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESEMPLOYMENT PROGRAMEMPLOYMENT PROGRAMSEMPLOYMENT RATESEMPLOYMENT STATUSEMPLOYMENT TRENDSEQUALITY FOR WOMENETHNIC GROUPEXPORT-ORIENTED INDUSTRIESFAMILY INCOMEFAMILY PLANNINGFAMILY WORKFEMALE EMPLOYMENTFEMALE HEADSFEMALE LABORFEMALE LABOR FORCEFEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONFEMALE MORTALITYFEMALE WORKFEMALE WORKERSFEMINISTFERTILITYFERTILITY BEHAVIORFERTILITY RATEFERTILITY RATESFEWER WOMENFINANCIAL MARKETSFULL EMPLOYMENTGENDERGENDER ANALYSISGENDER DIFFERENCESGENDER DIFFERENTIALSGENDER EQUALITYGENDER EQUALITY IN RIGHTSGENDER SPECIFICGIRL INFANTSGIRLSHEALTH EFFECTSHEALTH OUTCOMESHIGH CHILD MORTALITYHIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTSHOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICSHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLD LEVELHOUSEHOLD POVERTYHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN RESOURCESHUSBANDSILLITERATE WOMENILLNESSINCOME SUPPORT PROGRAMINDUSTRIAL PRODUCTIONINFANTINFANT DEATHSINFANT MORTALITYINFANT MORTALITY RATEINFANT MORTALITY RATESINFORMAL ECONOMYINFORMAL EMPLOYMENTINFORMAL LABOR MARKETINFORMAL SECTORINTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON WOMENINTERVENTIONJOB LOSSJOB LOSSESJOB OPPORTUNITIESJOBSLABOR ECONOMICSLABOR FORCELABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKET CONDITIONSLABOR MARKET IMPACTLABOR MARKET OUTCOMESLABOR MARKETSLABOR POLICYLABOR SUPPLYLABOURLABOUR FORCELABOUR OFFICELABOUR SUPPLYLARGE NUMBERS OF WOMENLIVE BIRTHSLOW-INCOME COUNTRIESLOWER FERTILITYMALE COUNTERPARTSMALE PARTICIPATIONMANUFACTURING INDUSTRIESMARKET WAGEMARKET WAGESMARRIED WOMENMEDICINESMILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALMILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALSMINIMUM WAGEMINIMUM WAGESMORTALITY RATENEO-NATAL MORTALITYNEONATAL MORTALITYNUTRITIONNUTRITIONAL STATUSOLDER WOMENPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOOR FAMILIESPOOR WOMENPREFERENCE FOR SONSPREGNANCYPREGNANT WOMENPRELIMINARY EVIDENCEPRIMARY SCHOOLPROGRESSPROPORTION OF WOMENPUBLIC WORKSPUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMPUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMSPUBLIC WORKS SCHEMESREMITTANCESRETRENCHED WORKERSRICHER COUNTRIESRISING DEMANDRISING UNEMPLOYMENTROLE OF WOMENRURAL AREASRURAL HOUSEHOLDSRURAL WOMENSAFETYSAFETY NETSAFETY NETSSANITATION FACILITIESSCARCE RESOURCESSCHOOL ATTENDANCESECONDARY EDUCATIONSERVICE INDUSTRIESSEXSEX OF THE CHILDSINGLE MOTHERSSPOUSESSTATE UNIVERSITYSTATUS OF WOMENSUPPLY CHAINSTEMPORARY INCOME SUPPORTTEMPORARY JOBTRAINING PROGRAMSUNEMPLOYEDUNEMPLOYED POORUNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITSUNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCEUNEMPLOYMENT RATEUNEMPLOYMENT RATESUNPAID FAMILY WORKERSURBAN AREASVULNERABILITYVULNERABLE GROUPSWAGE RATEWASTEWASTE RECYCLINGWORK ACTIVITIESWORKERWORKERSWORKFORCEWORKING CONDITIONSWORKING WOMENYOUNG MENYOUNG WOMENYOUNGER WORKERSHow Do Women Weather Economic Shocks? A Review of the EvidenceWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-5496