Constrained Geographical Mobility and Gendered Labor Market Outcomes Under Structural Adjustment: Evidence from Egypt

We examine in this paper the evolution of gender gaps in labor market outcomes during structural adjustment and explore the extent to which widening gaps can be attributed to women's more limited geographical mobility. Using comparable household surveys carried out in 1988 and 1998, we show that gender gaps in access to wage and salary employment and in earnings have widened during this period, especially in the nongovernmental sector. We attribute these changes, at least in part, to women's more limited geographical mobility. We show that women's commuting rates are not only much lower than those of men, but also have remained stagnant in a period where males were having to travel significantly more to obtain jobs outside the government.