Working Papers
Do Employers Discriminate Against Married Women? Evidence from A Field Experiment in Egypt
No.
SWP 2023_1
Publisher
ILO and ERF
Date
November, 2023
Topic
J1. Demographic Economics
Do employers discriminate against married women? This research submitted fictitious resumes to online job postings in Egypt, randomizing gender and marital status. More job postings explicitly required men (14 per cent) than women (4 per cent). Despite the gender discrimination in postings, women were only slightly less likely to receive callbacks than men, with only a small difference between single and married women. Differences in callbacks by sex and marital status were not statistically significant. Women and especially married women were, however, particularly likely to be asked for more information rather than scheduled for an interview. The findings suggest that the low employment rate of women and especially married women in Egypt, at least in the segment of the labor market we are able to examine, is not primarily due to employer discrimination at the callback stage.
Authors
Caroline Krafft
Associate Professor, Humphrey School of Public Affairs,...