Recession, austerity and gender

Hélène Périvier (1)

1 OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques (Sciences Po)

The GDP collapse phase of the economic crisis has less affected female employment than male employment, whereas the austerity phase was particularly harsh for women. This gendered impact of the different stages of the crisis is described in the literature as follows: “from he-cession to sh(e)austerity”. This article aims to analyse the gendered trends in labour market for eight European countries. The quarterly evolution of the participation of women and men and the employment at the sectorial level are decomposed. The “he-cession to sh(e)austerity” scenario does not apply to all the selected countries. The other channels through which austerity policies can jeopardize gender equality and women’s rights are identified by referring to a typology of these policies.

Keywords: Gender; Recession; Austerity; Segregation; Economic policies; Employment

Domains: Humanities and Social Sciences; Economics and Finance

Hélène Périvier. Recession, austerity and gender: A Comparison of Eight European Labour Markets. 2016. ⟨hal-03459410⟩