Occupational segregation of immigrant women in Spain

Abstract

This contribution analyzes occupational segregation during a period of high employment in the Spanish labor market by gender and immigrant status, using several local and overall segregation measures. Using data from Spain's 2007 Economically Active Population Survey (Encuesta de Población Activa), the results suggest that immigrant women in Spain suffered a double burden from occupational segregation since it affected them to a greater degree than either native women or immigrant men. In fact, gender is a useful variable for understanding the labor market performance of immigrant workers for this period in Spain, although there were notable discrepancies in the segregation of immigrant women depending on their region of origin. Immigrant women from the European Union (EU) had the lowest occupational segregation, while such segregation appeared to be particularly intense among women from European countries outside the EU and women from Asia. © 2012 IAFFE.