Informality and Gender Gaps Going Hand in Hand

This paper uses microdata from Senegal to assess the probability of a worker being in the informal sector

From:
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Published
26 January 2021
Country:
Senegal
Document Type:
Working Paper
Theme:
Economic Growth
First published:
23 May 2019
Authors:
Malta, V, Kolovich, L, Leyva, A.M. and Tavares, M.M.

Abstract

In sub-Saharan Africa women work relatively more in the informal sector than men. Many factors could explain this difference, including women바카라 사이트™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:

  1. in urban areas, being a woman increases this probability by 8.5 percent

  2. education is usually more relevant for women

  3. having kids reduces men바카라 사이트™s probability of being informal but increases women바카라 사이트™s.

This work is part of the 바카라 사이트˜Macroeconomics in Low-income countries바카라 사이트™ programme

Citation

Vivian Malta, Lisa Kolovich, Angelica Martínez Leyva, and Marina Mendes Tavares (2019) Informality and Gender Gaps Going Hand in Hand. IMF Working Paper No. 19/112

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Published 26 January 2021
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