Digitalization and Employment Gender Gaps During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean

Digitalization and Employment Gender Gaps During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean PDF Author: Yuanchen Yang
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 46

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Book Description
Despite its negative effects, the COVID-19 pandemic has also accelerated Latin America's digitalization. The rapid increase in connectivity and digital services was helpful in mitigating the pandemic's negative impact on the labor markets, especially for those with enough flexibility to continue working from home. The shock has particularly affected women due to their household responsibilities and labor market characteristics. This paper examines how digitalization may have affected gender gaps in employment and job loss related to the COVID-19 crisis. Using a sample of Latin American countries, our findings suggest that higher levels of digitalization are associated with increased female employment and reduced job loss for both men and women. These findings hold even after controlling for factors such as child care, household chores, and the COVID-19 shock. Our results are also robust to various econometric techniques.

Digitalization and Employment Gender Gaps During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean

Digitalization and Employment Gender Gaps During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean PDF Author: Yuanchen Yang
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 46

Get Book Here

Book Description
Despite its negative effects, the COVID-19 pandemic has also accelerated Latin America's digitalization. The rapid increase in connectivity and digital services was helpful in mitigating the pandemic's negative impact on the labor markets, especially for those with enough flexibility to continue working from home. The shock has particularly affected women due to their household responsibilities and labor market characteristics. This paper examines how digitalization may have affected gender gaps in employment and job loss related to the COVID-19 crisis. Using a sample of Latin American countries, our findings suggest that higher levels of digitalization are associated with increased female employment and reduced job loss for both men and women. These findings hold even after controlling for factors such as child care, household chores, and the COVID-19 shock. Our results are also robust to various econometric techniques.

Labor Market Gender Gaps in the Time of COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean

Labor Market Gender Gaps in the Time of COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean PDF Author: Ivonne Acevedo
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This study shows that the trend of declining gender gaps in labor market indicators in Latin America in previous decades did not change significantly in most countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a closer look at the dynamics during the 2019-2021 period shows that (i) women were harder hit in terms of employment losses during the 2020 economic shock; (ii) despite the labor market recovery, women in 2021 often remained less likely to work than they did in 2019; nevertheless, (iii) in a subset of countries the gender gap in employment rates widened. However, relative to the value of their 2019 wages, the accumulated income losses were considerably greater for women than for men in most cases. This can create scarring effects for the future through greater vulnerability, lower incomes, and reduced probabilities of job insertion. The groups of women hit hardest by the shock were those with less than a tertiary education, those in the 14-24 year-old age group, those living in urban areas, and those working in the tertiary sector.

Work and Family

Work and Family PDF Author: Laura Chioda
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821399624
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Over recent decades, women in Latin America and the Caribbean have increased their labor force participation faster than in any other region of the world. This evolution occurred in the context of more general progress in women’s status. Female enrollment rates have increased at all levels of education, fertility rates have declined, and social norms have shifted toward gender equality. This report sheds light on the complex relationship between stages of economic development and female economic participation. It documents a shift in women’s perceptions whereby work has become a fundamental part of their identity, highlighting the distinction between jobs and careers. These dynamics are made more complex by the acknowledgment that individuals are part of larger economic units—families. As development progresses and the options available to women expand, the need to balance career and family takes greater importance. New tensions emerge, paradoxically made possible by decades of steady gains. Understanding the new challenges women face as they balance work and family is thus crucial for policy.

Economy, Gender and Academy

Economy, Gender and Academy PDF Author: Mario Enrique Vargas Sáenz
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
ISBN: 1837530009
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
Relying on a variety of examples from Latin America and the Caribbean, this book counteracts the gender gap by focusing on what you need to know to analyze the modernization of business management and economic growth as well as design effective public policies that allow for greater participation of women in society.

Women at Work in Latin America and the Caribbean

Women at Work in Latin America and the Caribbean PDF Author: Natalija Novta
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 147557892X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 34

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Book Description
Women across the world remain an underutilized resource in the labor force. Participation in the labor force averages around 80 percent for men but only 50 percent for women – nearly half of women’s productive potential remains untapped compared to one-fifth for men. Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), as a region, saw the largest gains in female labor force participation (LFP) in the world during the last two decades. Women in LAC are becoming increasingly active in paid work, closing the gap with men and catching up to their counterparts in advanced economies at an impressive rate. In this paper, we document the recent trends in female LFP and female education in the LAC region, discuss the size of potential gains to GDP from increasing female LFP and policies which could be deployed towards this goal.

The COVID-19 Pandemic is Exacerbating the Care Crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean

The COVID-19 Pandemic is Exacerbating the Care Crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean PDF Author: Mario Castillo
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789210054157
Category : COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-
Languages : en
Pages : 3

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Book Description
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light, in an unprecedented way, the importance of care for the sustainability of life and the low visibility of this sector in the economies of the region, where it is still considered an externality and not a fundamental component of development. The ongoing health crisis highlights the unfair social organization of care work in Latin America and the Caribbean. There is an urgent need to consider responses to care needs from a gender perspective, since, as the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has repeatedly demonstrated, it is women who, whether paid or unpaid, bear the greatest caregiving burden.

Working from Home Under COVID-19

Working from Home Under COVID-19 PDF Author: Isaure Delaporte
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Millions of individuals are required to work from home as part of national efforts to fight COVID-19. To evaluate the employment impact of the pandemic, an important point is whether individuals are able to work from home. This paper estimates the share of jobs that can be performed at home in 23 Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries as well as examines the workers' characteristics associated with such jobs. To carry out this analysis, this paper uses rich harmonised household surveys and presents two measures of teleworkability. The first measure of the feasibility of working from home is borrowed from Dingel and Neiman (2020), while the second closely follows the methodology of Saltiel (2020). We use the second measure as our benchmark, as it is based on a more representative task content of occupations for LAC countries. We find that the share of individuals who are able to work from home varies from 7% in Guatemala to 16% in the Bahamas. We document considerable variation in the potential to work from home across occupations, industries, regions and workers' socioeconomic characteristics. Our results show that some individuals are better positioned to cope with the current situation than others. This highlights the need to assist the most vulnerable workers in the context of the global pandemic.

Social Services for Digital Citizens

Social Services for Digital Citizens PDF Author: Cristina Pombo
Publisher: Inter-American Development Bank
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 70

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Book Description
Disruption is the new norm and the digital transformation can spur innovation growth across many activities. Emerging technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) can help governments reduce costs while improving services. Not every emerging technology will alter the social landscape, but some truly do have the potential to disrupt the statu quo and change the way people live. This study focuses on the following key building blocks of the 4IR to examine their impact on the social services sector in Latin America and the Caribbean: Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Internet of Things and Cloud Computing, Big Data, Virtual and Augmented Reality.

The Global Findex Database 2017

The Global Findex Database 2017 PDF Author: Asli Demirguc-Kunt
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464812683
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.

The Gendered Impacts of COVID-19 on Labor Markets in Latin America and the Caribbean

The Gendered Impacts of COVID-19 on Labor Markets in Latin America and the Caribbean PDF Author: Emilia Cucagna
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
High-frequency phone surveys conducted in 13 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) show that women were 44 percent more likely than men to lose their jobs at the onset of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). As the crisis evolved, temporarily unemployed workers started to go back to work. But the difference in job losses among women and men persisted. Also, highly female-intensive sectors - trade, personal services, education, and hospitality - explain 56 percent of all job losses. And the presence of school-age children at home is linked with a rise in job losses among women, but not among men.