Activity in the labor market and the economic crisis: Gender differences in Galicia

Résumé 0

"Purpose: This paper studies personal characteristics that determine labor activity inGalicia.Design/methodology/approach: The data are from the Galician Statistics Institute(IGE) Family Living Conditions Survey (ECV). We estimate the model parameters viabinary logistic regression; then we calculate the probability of activity according tovarious personal characteristics. We find that probability varies according to the gender.We analyze three periods: economic growth (2003), the year the economic crisis began(2007), and the economic crisis (2012).Findings: In general, the probability of activity during the economic crisis is higherthan during economic growth. We find that people enter the labor market youngerduring economic growth and retire later during the economic crisis. Women participatein the labor market at lower raters after the birth of their children in 2003 and in 2007;this rate rises in 2012. This is due to the high cost of childcare for families with scarceeconomic resources.Research limitations/implications: Future researches could study the crisis contextwhich reduce the gender differences in labor market.Practical implications: The gender differences are reducing and the economic cycleplays a relevant role.Originality/value: We show through repeating the analysis in different periods thatthe cycle involves different behaviors in the probability of activity by gender. Overall,during the crisis, the probability of activity are bigger and the gender differences aresmaller."