Uneven Recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean : Are Women Being Left Behind?

In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the effects of the pandemic on labor market outcomes continue to be pronounced, especially for women. Continued pronounced impacts on women's employment are partly driven by a slow recovery of sectors that predominantly employ women. Many new jobs created during the pandemic are informal. Among the new entrants into the labor force, women were more likely than men to land in informality. Policy priorities include gender neutral reforms to the organization of the labor market, plus social safety nets and policies that aim to address gender gaps. The latter include affordable and quality childcare, gender sensitive social assistance, improvements in women's access to finance, and efforts to address persistent norms driving unequal gender roles