MDG 3 - Gender Equality

DDVE has recently undertaken analytical work on gender equality in four areas: (1) gender, time use, and access to basic infrastructure; (2) gender disparities in labor markets; (3) gender aspects of the trade and poverty nexus; and (4) cultural and religious factors affecting gender equality.

• Gender and time use: A DDVE study on Gender, Time Use and Infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa is under finalization. The study uses household survey data to document patterns of time use and assess whether access to basic infrastructure would reduce working hours for women and free time for productive activities. The study serves as an input into a larger study on Infrastructure, Poverty and Gender in Africa which is also under completion. DDVE’s work on gender and time use follows up on previous work by DDVE staff on Gender, Time Use and Poverty in sub-Saharan Africa (see DDVE Study 2007-2). DDVE is represented in UNDP’s Expert group on unpaid work, economic development and human wellbeing and DDVE staff made a presentation of their work at the November 2008 Expert group meeting in New York.

• Gender disparities in labor markets: In collaboration with the World Bank’s Africa Region Chief Economist Office, the Agence Française de Développement, and the International Labor Office, DDVE is producing an edited volume of case studies on Gender Disparities in African Labor Markets. The case studies deal with jobs and earnings using household surveys as well as Social Accounting Matrices. Some of the work focuses on the impact of labor outcomes on intra-household allocations and poverty.

• Gender aspects of the trade and poverty nexus: DDVE staffs recently prepared three papers for an edited volume by the World Bank’s Development Research Group on Gender Aspects of the Trade and Poverty Nexus - A Macro-Micro Approach. The three papers deal with groundnut prices and intra-household allocations in Senegal, the impact of higher oil prices on the cost of living for households in Kenya, and the role of sectoral growth patterns in affecting aggregate female labor income shares. They will be made available through the DDVE Working papers.

• Cultural and religious factors affecting gender equality: Work on cultural factors affecting gender equality is at the conceptual stage, but the basic idea is to rely on household survey data to document to what extent cultural and religious variables affect labor outcomes controlling for a range of other household and individual characteristics. The results from this work would then be used for a dialogue with faith-inspired organizations.