Series information
Egypt's labor market is highly segmented, with women concentrated in specific occupations. Women typically earn less than men in the private sector, which is often interpreted as discrimination. This research is Egypt's first audit study, randomizing gender and marital status on applications and resumes to assess the degree of employer discrimination against women in Egypt.
Abstract
Egypt's labor market is highly segmented, with women concentrated in specific occupations (Assaad, Krafft, Rahman, & Selwaness, 2019; El-Hamidi & Said, 2014). In the private sector, women typically earn less than men, even after accounting for differences in their characteristics (El-Hamidi & Said, 2014; Said, Galal, & Sami, 2022). This wage differential is often interpreted as a sign of discrimination against women but could also be driven by unobserved characteristics of women or selection into specific jobs. Norms that prioritize jobs for men over women, when jobs are scarce (Keo, Krafft, & Fedi, 2022), may also lead to employer discrimination in challenging economic times. Egyptian women frequently work in the private sector in advance of marriage and leave private sector work at marriage (Assaad, Krafft, & Selwaness, 2022; Krafft, Assaad, & Keo, 2022; Selwaness & Krafft, 2021). The degree to which exits are driven by women choosing to leave work versus employer discrimination against married women are unknown but have very different implications for interventions to improve women's employment. Generally, understanding the role of employer discrimination and the labor demand side of the market in Egyptian women's low and declining employment rates is a critical but under-researched area. There has been little research on employer discrimination and its impact on hiring in Egypt. This research is Egypt's first audit (correspondence) study, randomizing the gender and marital status on applications and resumes in order to assess the degree of employer discrimination against women in Egypt.
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For more details please see:
Krafft C., (2023). Do Employers Discriminate Against Married Women? Evidence from A Field Experiment in Egypt. International Labor Organization and Economic Research Forum, SWP 2023_1.
https://erf.org.eg/publications/do-employers-discriminate-against-married-women-evidence-from-a-field-experiment-in-egypt/
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Unit of analysis
Individual-job posting level. There are four individual observations for each job posting - one single man, one single woman, one married man, one married woman.