Labour market impact of four recessions on women and men in Greece: Comparative analysis in a long term perspective

The current economic crisis in Greece has produced a dramatic fall in male and female employment and driven unemployment to historically unprecedented levels. This article compares gender differences in the labour market impact of the current crisis with those of the three previous recessions: 1974, 1980-83, 1990-1993. We have found large discrepancies in the gender impact between the four recessions. These are due to differences in their nature and duration, the sectors and industries hit each time and the trends of women’s labour force participation before the eruption of the crisis. The structural nature of the current crisis and the negative repercussions of the deep and prolonged recession on the services sector that concentrates the great bulk of female employment explain why the gendered labour market impact of the current crisis is different from that of previous recessions. Male employment has been more hit than female employment until now, but the spread of the recession to services reversed the long term trend of increase in the female employment rate. By contrast, in all three previous recessions, the tertiary sector had played a protective, compensating and enhancing role for women’s employment.