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The gender inequality effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Nigerian labor market

Author

Listed:
  • Diaz Mendez, Ana Karen

    (RS: GSBE MGSoG, Maastricht Graduate School of Governance)

  • Martorano, Bruno

    (Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, RS: GSBE MGSoG)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted the Nigerian labor market, exacerbating existing inequalities and disrupting employment dynamics. This study provides a reliable overview of the time-varying effects of the pandemic on the Nigerian labor market. It deviates from previous works as it draws on a representative panel of adults in Nigeria that tracks them at baseline (2018/19) and in three rounds of the High-Frequency Phone Surveys (HFPS) during the COVID-19 pandemic (September 2020, February 2021, and March 2022), instead of using a larger panel that mainly comprises household heads, as past research has done. Hence, this paper challenges previous results on this country that underestimate the pervasive employment effects of the pandemic, given that household heads had better-off employment outcomes than the rest of the household members. The paper confirms that the pandemic negatively affected employment levels in Nigeria of those individuals already participating in the l abor force before the pandemic. Women experienced more adverse employment reductions, and the presence of school-age children in households further hindered their employment. Gender inequality overlaps with other dimensions of inequality, exacerbating preexisting conditions of marginalization for women. Indeed, vulnerable groups, such as young women and those from the poorest pre-crisis consumption quantiles, were hardest hit. In short, the COVID-19 pandemic was far from an equalizer event.

Suggested Citation

  • Diaz Mendez, Ana Karen & Martorano, Bruno, 2023. "The gender inequality effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Nigerian labor market," MERIT Working Papers 2023-034, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    • Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2023034
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

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