Closing the gender gap in education: What is the state of gaps in labour force participation for women, wives and mothers?

Abstract

The educational gender gap has closed or reversed in many countries. But what of gendered labour market inequalities? Using micro-level census data for some 40 countries, the authors examine the labour force participation gap between men and women, the "marriage gap" between married and single women's participation, and the "motherhood gap" between mothers' and non-mothers' participation. They find significant heterogeneity among countries in terms of the size of these gaps, the speed at which they are changing, and the relationships between them and the educational gap. But counterfactual regression analysis shows that the labour force participation gap remains largely unexplained by the other gaps. © International Labour Organization 2014.