Assessing the labor market impact of COVID-19 on women with young children in Egypt
This paper examines the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on female labor force participation in Egypt
Abstract
Women鈥檚 employment in Egypt had been declining for some time even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper examines the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on female labor force participation in Egypt, with a particular focus on the intersection of COVID-19, child care, and women鈥檚 employment. Closures in schools and nurseries and women鈥檚 disproportionate role in child care compounded the effects of COVID-19 on women鈥檚 employment. We 铿乶d that women with young children in our sample were facing substantial barriers to care access such as information barriers, 铿乶ancial barriers, as well as safety and quality concerns about nurseries. Moreover, gender role attitudes have remained unchanged across generations. Efforts to address women鈥檚 employment may thus need to address gender norms and care work within the household in conjunction with child care through nurseries.
This research is part of the Gender, Growth and Labour Markets in Low Income Countries programme
Citation
Fadl, N., ELBehairy, H., Krafft, C., Crepon, B., Caria, S. and Nagy, A. (2022). 鈥淎ssessing the labor market impact of COVID-19 on women with young children in Egypt鈥�. G2LM LIC Working Paper No. 61.