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 women鈥檚 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 men鈥檚 probability of being informal but increases women鈥檚.

This work is part of the 鈥楳acroeconomics in Low-income countries鈥� programme

Citation

Vivian Malta, Lisa Kolovich, Angelica Mart铆nez 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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