Crisis y austeridad: amenaza para el empleo femenino en las regiones europeas

Abstract

Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, EspañaAbstract: The objective of the study is to explore the relation between unemployment rates for men and women and the variation in public employment at regional level. To this end, a number of indicators are presented for the descriptive analysis of unemployment at regional level in the EU-15 and results are mapped. The main conclusion is that the marked sectoral segregation of employment by sex and the role of employment in the public sector for women should be taken into account when designing employment policies. On the contrary, employment growth in certain sectors and cuts in public spending in others introduce a bias that can boost male employment while delaying the recovery of feminine employment. Key words: crisis, sectoral segregation by sex, European regions. Resumen: El objetivo del trabajo es explorar la relación entre las tasas de paro de mujeres y de hombres, y la variación en el empleo público a escala regional. Para ello se plantean diversos indicadores orientados al análisis descriptivo del desempleo a nivel regional en el ámbito de la UE-15 y se hace una mapificación de los resultados. La principal conclusión es que la importante segregación sectorial del empleo por sexo y el papel que desempeña el empleo en el sector público en el trabajo femenino deben ser tomados en cuenta a la hora de diseñar las políticas laborales. De lo contrario, el fomento del empleo en ciertos sectores y/o los recortes de gasto público en otros incorporan un sesgo que puede estar impulsando el empleo masculino y retrasando la recuperación del femenino. Palabras clave: crisis, desempleo femenino, segregación sectorial por sexo, regiones europeas.

Effect of the Great Crisis on Sectoral Female Employment in Europe: A Structural Decomposition Analysis

“…Indeed, the austerity measures, brought in by many countries in the EU 28 in the post-recession period, involved reductions in government spending for publicly-provided goods and services, which, for various reasons affected the labor market, inequality and social stability (Perugini et al 2019), and had a greater impact on women than men. Firstly, these measures had a sectoral, and inevitably, therefore, a gender component (Martínez-Tola et al 2018), because the sectors experiencing the greatest reductions were those where women provide the main workforce. The public sector employed a large percentage of women, most of whom were educated women (United Nations 2017; OECD 2012).…”

“…Several papers published since the 2008 economic crisis have addressed the impact of the decline in economic activity on female employment; an effect mediated by the existence of marked sectoral segregation (Martínez-Tola et al 2018). The form and pattern of this segregation may vary; and whether it exposes or protects women depends on different recessionary effects across sectors; but, once recovery starts, changes in gender segregation are possible if gender substitution takes place (Rubery and Rafferty 2013).…”