Gender-Differentiated Labor and Adaptation Effects of Climate Change in Rural Areas: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The study systematically reviews sixty recent publications on the impact of climate change on gender-differentiated labour market by using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses methodology. While focusing on the effect of climate shocks on rural areas in general and the farming sector in particular, the study is organised around three main themes: (i) agricultural labor market vulnerability, (ii) gender-specific effects, and (iii) adaptation mechanisms. Evidence suggests that women face unique challenges in disaster recovery due to their role as caregivers, unequal access to resources, labor market discrimination and cultural restrictions. The response of household labor supply to climatic stress is different in the short-run and the long-run. While the long-term strategy is contingent on their ability to diversify into non-farm livelihood alternatives and migration to distant places, rural households cope with climate shocks in the short run by relying on affirmative government actions, remittance income and participating in agricultural wage labor.