Other

Gender Inequalities in Moldova's Labor Market

· 1 Dec 2018

Abstract

The objective of this report is to address the knowledge gaps for the first and second priority challenges and thereby contribute to the evidence-based policymaking on the labor supply and gender equality agendas. Specifically, the report explores the key labor market gender challenges such as occupational segregation (looking at segregation of current occupations and educational specializations) and the parenthood penalty (looking at differences in labor force participation, employment, and earnings for women and men with no children, 1 child, 2 or more children), using the nationally-representative individual-level Labor Force Survey (LFS) data in 2006-2016. The novelty of this study is that an LFS-based analysis that applies a conventional methodology of occupational segregation indicators and earnings regressions and decompositions in chapters two through four is complemented by an original analysis of job seeker profiles in chapter five, scraped from the largest online job portal in Moldova in June 2018, to examine the role of gender in labor market aspirations and expectations of young job seekers. Even though the third priority challenge (entrepreneurship) is also linked to the labor market and there are substantial disparities in the success rate of setting up a business as well as in the size and nature of businesses that Moldovan women and men lead (World Bank, 2014a), this report does not address the issue of entrepreneurship in detail due to LFS data containing only a very small sample of non-agricultural employers (either women or men) and very few relevant variables on this topic. Another limitation of this report is that it does not study the impact of international labor migration and remittances on labor market outcomes of remaining household members and other social and economic indicators in Moldova. Besedina and Levin (2016) and Stratan et al. (2013) find that migration and remittances are associated with lower labor force participation rates of remaining household members (who are more likely to be female, compared to households without migrants)and higher incidence of part-time employment as remittance recipients rationally reduce their labor effort. To answer the question whether migration and remittances contribute to gender inequalities in the Moldovan labor market, including gender gaps in labor force participation, employment and earnings, other data and further research are needed. Finally, the report contributes to the literature about the supply side of the Moldovan labor market whereas it draws on the findings of other studies on the labor demand developments. According to World Bank (2016b, c), rapid economic growth in recent years in Moldova was not accompanied by job creation, net job losses have taken place in most sectors and across regions, and only some categories of workers (predominantly skilled older male workers in urban areas) were able to benefit from access to higher-paying jobs in productivity increasing firms. The report is intended for technically-inclined readers from government agencies, think tanks and researchers active in gender and labor market domains. The Executive summary summarizes the findings of the analysis in non-technical language for the general public and policy makers. Annex one provides technical details on which methodology and data are used for the analysis. (Moldova)