Should jobs be gender specific

This chapter examines gender inequalities in productivity and wages across sectors and occupations, in addition to differences in labor market participation. It demonstrates that, despite tremendous gains in female labor force participation over the last 25 years, persistent and continuing gender inequalities in productivity and wages persist. It contends that the combination of gender inequalities in time usage and access to inputs, as well as market and institutional inefficiencies, traps women in low-paying occupations and low-productivity enterprises. To break free from this productivity trap, initiatives that alleviate women's time restrictions, boost their access to productive inputs, and address market and institutional shortcomings are required.

Men's and women's jobs range widely among sectors, industries, vocations, job categories, and business types. While these discrepancies grow with economic progress, the ensuing changes in job structure are insufficient to eradicate gender employment segregation. Women are concentrated in low-productivity, low-paying occupations all across the globe. They labor on tiny farms and in small businesses, are overrepresented among unpaid employees and in the informal sector, and seldom advance to positions of influence.

While variations in worker attributes (particularly in human capital) and returns are important, gender inequalities in productivity and earnings are mostly explained by differences in occupations. Gender segregation in access to economic opportunities among farmers, entrepreneurs, and wage workers is caused by three major factors: gender differences in time use (primarily due to differences in care responsibilities), gender differences in access to productive inputs (particularly land and credit), and gender differences caused by market and institutional failures:

Women have a disproportionate part of house and care obligations, and as a result, they confront significant fixed expenses connected with market job, such as set schedules and minimum hour requirements, as well as the difficulty of altering tasks at home.

These trade-offs are also influenced by social standards about women's roles. Women are more likely than males to spend fewer hours in the market, placing them at risk of being channeled into lower-quality professions.

Female farmers and businesses have fewer access to land and financing than male farmers and businesspeople. This is due to market access hurdles such as discrimination and unequal pricing in land and credit markets, as well as institutional limits such as land rights and financial laws and regulations.

Discrimination within families favors males in the allocation of productive resources, resulting in gender inequalities in production size, productivity, and investment and growth capability.

The absence of women's participation in some markets may create hurdles to information and learning about women's performance, reinforcing women's lack of access to certain markets.

Institutional design and operation may be (intentionally or accidentally) prejudiced towards women, perpetuating existing inequities.