Labour market segregation between men and women What to measure How to measure it.

Labour market segregation

between men and women

What to measure

How to measure it

ILO Bureau of Statistics 2

Contents

• A definition

• Causes

• Types

• Indicators

• Data needs


A definition

• Labour market segregation in general:Practice of restricting particular population group(s) to certain (economic/non-economic) activities in order to maintain the economic advantages and higher social status of the other population group(s)

• Types of labour market segregation:– SEX– Race, ethnicity– Religion– Migrants/non-migrants


Causes

• De jure - enforced by law– Laws forbidding/hindering women from working or from doing

certain jobs

• De facto – widespread individual preferences, social customs– Traditional female roles of family caretakers impede/encumber

that they work (in certain types of jobs) or look for (certain types of) work, on an equal footing as men

– Subordination to men means that women are not free to work (in certain types of jobs) or look for (certain types of) work without approval of husband/father/brother

– Social and educational conditioning that hinder competitiveness to allow women to work on an equal footing as men


Types of segregation

• In the entry to/exit from the labour market• In the types of economic activities carried out• In their labour inputs• In their returns to labour


Entry/exit

• Do they work ? Employment• Do they look for work? Unemployment• Do they work or look for work? Labour force• Do they enter and exit the labour market? Labour

turnover, life cycle patterns


Types of activities

• The type of work they do - occupations• The type of establishment they work in - industries• The type of contract - status in employment• The type of employer - institutional sector• The size of establishment where they work• Where they work - place of work• Hazardousness of their work – occupational injuries and

disease• Their voice – union density and representation• Social security coverage


Labour inputs

• How much do they work - hours actually worked/usually worked, overtime, part-time/full-time

• How inconvenient are the hours they work - Night work, shift work, weekend work

• How often are they absent from work and for what reasons – family reasons, economic reasons, social reasons


Returns to labour

• Income from employment– Basic wages– Overtime payments– Fringe benefits– Social security benefits– Regular and irregular payments


Indicators

• Types of indicators• Indicators to measure segregation in:

– The entry to/exit from the labour market– The types of economic activities carried out– Labour inputs– Returns to labour


Types of indicators

• Measures of relationship– Ratios : relation between two quantities (a/b)– Proportions, percentages : quotient between one part and the total

(a/(a+b))– Index numbers

• Measures of central tendency – Mean, median, mode

• Measures of variability – Frequency distribution, range, standard deviation

• Shape of the distribution – Skewness, kurtosis


Index numbers

• Value in relation to a standard value (often =100)• When are index numbers used

– Summarize large quantities of qualitative information

ID= ½ ∑ | Mi/M - Fi/F |– Indicate variations in time

Wage index = (Wt – W(t-1))/W(t-1)

• Types– Simple index number

Gender pay gap = Wm-Wf

– Weighted index number

Laspeyres price index = ∑ Pi1Qi0/ ∑ Pi0Qi0


Indicators to measure entry/exit

• Activity rate– Gross: Labour force/total population * 100– Net: Labour force/working age population * 100

• Employment rate– Employed persons/working age population * 100

• Unemployment rate– Unemployed persons/Labour force * 100


Indicators to measure activities carried out

• Share of women in category iWomen in category i/total workers in category i * 100

= Fi/Ni * 100

• Percentage of all women in category IWomen in category i/all women * 100

= Fi/F * 100

• Sex ratio (in category i)Women in category i/Men in category i * 100

= Wi/Mi * 100

• Dissimilarity index (ID)

ID= ½ ∑ | Mi/M - Fi/F |


Indicators to measure labour inputs

• Distribution of workers by hours worked per week• Percentage women/men who work less/more than x

hours per week• Distribution of workers by working time arrangements


Indicators to measure returns to labour

• Gender wage gap

(Wm – Wf)/Wm * 100• Gender wage gap corrected for differences in

occupations/industries

1/N ∑Ni * (Wmi - Wfi)/Wmi• Average wage

1/N ∑ Wi• Median wage - wage below and above which half of the

population is found• Distribution of workers by categories of income earned


Data needs

• Complete worker coverage• Sufficient detail• Explanatory variables


Complete worker coverage

• Coverage because of the SNA-93 definition of work• Coverage in labour statistics concepts• Coverage because of use of short or long reference

periods– Seasonal/casual activities


Definition of work, SNA-93

Activities that produce goods

(for the market or for free)

Activities that produce services for the market or that are carried out for payment

Activities that produce unpaid services for the consumption of own/another household

Productive activities

Economic activities

Non-economic activities


Treatment of non-market activities, SNA-93

Included(if the amount of that good is quantitatively important in relation to the

total supply of that good in a country)Excluded

Growing or gathering field crops, fruits and vegetablesProducing eggs, milk and foodHunting animals and birdsCatching fish, crabs and shellfishCutting firewood and building polesCollecting thatching and weaving materialsBurning charcoalMining slatCutting peatCarrying water

Threshing and milling grainMaking butter, ghee and cheeseSlaughtering livestockCuring hides and skinsPreserving meat and fishMaking beer, wine and spiritsCrushing oil seedsWeaving baskets and matsMaking clay pots and platesWeaving textilesMaking furnitureDressmaking and tailoringHandicrafts made from non-primary products

Constructing dwellingsConstructing farm buildingsBuilding boats and canoesClearing land for cultivation

Cleaning, decorating and maintaining dwelling, including small repairCleaning, repairing household durables, vehicles or other goodsPreparing and serving mealsCaring for, training and instructing childrenCaring for the sick, invalid or old peopleTransporting household members or their goods

Source: Based on System of National Accounts, 1993.


Coverage in concepts

• Employment• Unemployment• Informal sector• Income• Industrial disputes


Coverage in employment

• Persons at work for at least one hour– Persons who work a few hours and whose social role is to be a

housewife, student or retired– The self employed– Unpaid family workers– Armed forces– Unpaid workers

• Persons not at work– Extended absences


Coverage in unemployment

• Actively seeking work– Willingness to wrok

• Being available to work– Any work– Only at home


Coverage in informal sector

• Sectors often excluded:– Agriculture– Domestic work– Outwork/homework– Work for the benefit of own household

• Main and secondary jobs• Workers without fixed work location


Coverage in income

• Components of income:– Basic wages– Bonuses– Payments in kind and services– Social security benefits

• Family-related payments


Coverage in industrial disputes

• Legal or official disputes• Minimum duration of disputes• Workers directly and indirectly involved


Sufficient detail

• The more detail, the clearer it is to see gender differences– Examples

• Sample size may not always allow the detail required– In household surveys– In establishment surveys


Examples of sufficient detail

• Occupations– Professionals by type: doctors vs nurses, physicists vs teachers– Managers in small vs large firms– Craftworkers in mining vs clothes manufacturing

• Status in employment– Regular vs. casual employees– Subsistence workers and homeworkers vs employers

• Income– Basic pay vs overtime pay, bonuses and social security

contributions

• Hours of work– Normal hours vs overtime and absence from work


Explanatory variables

• All these indicators should be calculated not only by sex, but by:– Levels of education– Age groups– Family context

• Marital status• Presence and number of preschool children • Presence of elderly persons requiring care

• Therefore, statistics should be readily disaggregated by these variables

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Labour market segregation between men and women What to measure How to measure it.

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