Gendered Impacts of Global Economic Changes

Abstract

Over the last three decades, global economic structures have undergone massive transformations, with the gender aspect of these developments often being overlooked. This study addresses this research gap by exploring how these economic changes have affected men and women differently in terms of hours worked, and identifying the key drivers behind these trends. From 1995 to 2019, global working hours for men increased by 907 billion hours (30% rise), while women's working hours increased by 606 billion hours (33% rise). Nevertheless, the total hours gap between men and women has increased, though both genders experienced a decrease in weekly hours per employment, with men reducing their hours slightly more than women. Women’s participation rates increased slowly from 57% in 1995 to 64% in 2019, while men’s participation rates remained constant at 80%, significantly contributing to the observed trends. Regional disparities revealed that the Global North and China saw minimal increases in total working hours, with a narrowing weekly hours gap for women, while the Global South, especially India, experienced major gains in male working hours with very little change in female working hours, reflecting lower participation rates for women. A sectoral analysis shows that agriculture experienced a decline of 25% for both genders, mainly in China. This decline in agricultural hours was offset globally for men primarily in Construction, Retail, Manufacturing, and Transportation, and for women in Retail, Service, Education, and Manufacturing, with increases mostly occurring in sectors where each gender was already predominant. The decomposition analysis showed that technological advances in agriculture, the most dominant sector, offset rising consumption levels for both genders, leading to a decrease in hours worked, while no other industrial sector experienced the same offsetting effect. Furthermore, it indicates that efficiencies in technology saved hours worked for both genders in all regions, but these savings were consumed by rising final demand. The primary drivers influencing changes in working hours have been similar for both men and women, with men slightly benefiting more from production technology advances This research provides a comprehensive understanding of regional disparities and gender inequalities in the context of global economic development over the last three decades for various industry sectors and countries. By bridging the research gap and offering detailed insights into the differential impacts of global economic changes on men and women, this study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of labor developments.