Labor Market Inequalities in Egypt : Some Causes and Consequences for Youth and Women

Dissertation, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, 2022

This thesis examines aspects of labor market inequalities faced by women and youth, answering three main research questions: First, what is the gendered impact of commuting time on the labor market outcomes? Second, what is the gendered effect of transitioning from non-employment to standard or nonstandard employment on the mental health outcomes of youth? Third, what is the effect of family formation events on the occupational status of women? My cumulative dissertation consists mainly of three empirical articles that address these research questions.
Article 1 examines the gendered effect of commuting time on labor market outcomes. Using panel data from Egypt’s Labor Market Panel Survey for the years 2006 and 2012, I estimate the effect using an instrumental variable approach coupled with fixed effects and random effects. This paper provides new insights into the effect of travel time to work, in light of the importance of time poverty, especially for women burdened by care and household work
Article 2 investigates the impact of transitions into permanent, temporary, casual/seasonal, and informal employment relative to non-employment on the psychological health of youth. This article uses panel data from the Survey of Young People in Egypt for the years 2009 and 2014 and estimates matched difference-in-differences to examine the impact of various employment transitions on mental illness. I estimate the gendered effect of various employment transitions (standard and nonstandard employment) on the extensive and intensive margins of mental illness for youth.
Article 3 measures the marriage and motherhood penalties, particularly the impact of these family transitions on occupational status. Using retrospective data from Egypt’s Labor Market Panel Survey for 2018, this article studies the relationship between family formation and occupational status. I estimate fixed-effects and fixed-effects individual slopes panel models coupled with dummy impact functions to identify the impact of marriage and childbearing on the International Socio-Economic Index of occupational status.
Overall, the thesis contributes to understanding the situation of women and young women in the labor market. It can be concluded that women and young women suffer from labor market disadvantages concerning their labor supply and mental health. However, outcomes are positive when considering marriage and motherhood’s effects on occupational status. These results show the importance of understanding the complete picture of women in the labor market and accounting for their intrinsic characteristics when studying their outcomes.