How Do Women Weather Economic Shocks? A Review of the Evidence

Abstract

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

COVID-19 Is Having a Devastating Impact on the Economic Well-being of Latino Families

“…Our effort to examine economic coping behavior builds on a long-standing literature that has looked at how American households react to economic shocks. For example, research has found that women and mothers may modify their behavior differently than men during economic downturns, but that gender differences are influenced by the economic standing of families (Sabarwal et al 2011 ). Research has also documented the struggles of racial and ethnic minorities and the disparities in savings and intergenerational wealth that help buffer emergency situations or unanticipated job loss (Darity and Mullen 2020 ; Pfeffer and Killewald 2017 ).…”

“Women Friendly” Spending? Welfare Spending and Women's Participation in the Economy and Politics

“…However, it is likely because they are uneducated that they cannot gain the skills necessary to access many jobs. This results in a self-fulfilling prophesy and the vicious cycle continues (Sabarwal, Sinha, and Buvinic 2010; Summers 1994). Public funding for education takes some of the burden off of families in paying for the education of both sons and daughters.…”

“…As discussed above, social spending aids women by removing barriers to their participation in public life. For instance, education spending enables women to gain skills and have expanded opportunities (Edin and Lein 1997; Sabarwal, Sinha, and Buvinic 2010; Summers 1994). A basic example of this is the role of education in providing simple literacy skills necessary to stand for public office (Shvedova 2005).…”

“…4.This does not suggest that men do not also assume caregiving roles, but rather that societal expectations about gender and caregiving mean that welfare programs that benefit children frequently benefit women and vice versa. For example, studies find that women allocate a larger share of resources (such as food expenditures) to children and household public goods than do men (Morrison, Raju, and Sinha 2007; Sabarwal, Sinha, and Buvinic 2010). Others indicate that increases in female education improve human development outcomes such as child survival, health, and schooling more than male education increases, with the impacts on these outcomes being larger for a given increase in women's education than for an equal increase in men's education (Mason and King 2001; Sabarwal, Sinha, and Buvinic 2010).…”

Does economic crisis have different impact on husbands and wives? Evidence from the Asian Financial Crisis in Indonesia

“…The phenomenon that women's employment increases during economic crisis while men's decreases is found during several crisis episodes in Latin America and Asia. For a survey of these studies, refer to Sabarwal et al (2011).…”