The Economics of Women and Work in the Global Economy

Abstract

Using microdata from INEGI’s National Occupation and Employment Survey (ENOE), this chapter analyzes occupational segregation by gender and the wage gaps between men and women in Mexico during the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The central questions are “How was the workforce of men and women distributed during the health emergency?” and “What were the implications of this crisis for female employment and women’s income?” In particular, the Karmel and MacLachlan occupational segregation index and its decomposition are calculated to elucidate the factors with the most significant impact on changes in occupational segregation. At the same time, the wage gap is estimated through functions of income, incorporating the composition by sex of occupations and their decomposition using the Oaxaca-Blinder method. The results show that the emergency health measures were not gender-neutral, occupational segregation by sex increased, and this increase does not widen the gender wage gap.