Stagnant motherhood work time penalty in Great Britain over 30 years
More and more mothers with young children stay in the labor market today. In the United Kingdom, the share has risen from 62% in 1989 to 72% in 2023. However, … Read more
Gender issues
Relative to a specific sex, often in comparison with the other
Decriminalization of homosexuality since the 18th century
More and more people live in countries that have decriminalized homosexual relations, from 11% of the global population in the late 18th century to 79% in the early 21st century. … Read more
How retirement policies and demographic change influence China’s gender labor force gap
The gender gap in labor force participation is expanding in China, for various reasons, among which scarcity of affordable public childcare and growing discrimination against women in the labor market. … Read more
Gender asymmetries in mixed unions
An increasing number of people in high-income countries marry or cohabit with partners who were born abroad. Using census microdata for Spain and the United States, Albert Esteve, Annika Elwert … Read more
Does culture influence the gender division of housework and childcare?
Gender inequality in the division of housework persists. Elisa Brini, Anna Zamberlan and Paolo Barbieri investigate if cultural heritage is resistant to changes in socioeconomic and institutional environment by studying … Read more
A tendency towards attenuation of regional sex ratio imbalances in China
Through a detailed analysis of the dynamics of regional sex ratios at birth and, separately, at prime marriageable ages in China, Wanru Xiong finds that regional sex ratios tend to … Read more
Mobile phones protect women from intimate partner violence (in low- and middle-income countries)
In low- and middle-income countries, mobile phones can be viewed as empowering devices for women, says Luca Maria Pesando. Among other advantages, they frequently, although not always, protect women from … Read more
Intergenerational transmission of women’s life courses in Germany
Assessments of intergenerational transmission focus primarily on children reproducing parental status. Sergi Vidal, Philipp Lersch, Marita Jacob, and Karsten Hank offer a new perspective to understand the intergenerational transmission of … Read more
The within-gender gap: employment inequality among US mothers
Most accounts of women in the workforce focus on gender inequality. Ariel Binder1 provides a related, but often-ignored, discussion of inequality between more- and less-educated mothers. Policies that retrigger progress … Read more
Hypergamy on the decline in Europe
As women’s levels of education increasingly overtake those of men, educational hypergamy (male educational advantage in a relationship) is declining throughout Europe, as Dávid Erát shows. Who chooses whom? The … Read more
Women’s employment 1996-2016: US vs Europe
Among OECD countries, the United States was once a leader in women’s labor force participation, but is now a laggard. Jennifer Hook and Eunjeong Paek compare trends in American and … Read more
Female genital mutilation/cutting in Africa: ineffective policies and persistent inequalities
Using nationally representative data from Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, Valeria Cetorelli, Ben Wilson, Ewa Batyra and Ernestina Coast examine whether national policies banning female genital mutilation/cutting … Read more
Putting mobile phones in women’s hands spurs sustainable development
For billions of people, mobile phones provide a means to communicate effectively, to obtain information, and to access vital services for health, education, society, and the economy. Francesco C. Billari, … Read more
The gender-cliff: Why women tend to earn less than their male partners
Women tend to earn less than their male partners, all over the world. André Grow and Jan Van Bavel show that this can easily be explained by combining the unequal … Read more
Free childcare could increase African women’s economic empowerment
Offering free daycare services could substantially increase female employment in Africa. Results from a randomized control trial conducted by Shelley Clark, Caroline Kabiru, Sonia Laszlo, and Stella Muthuri in an … Read more
Gender equality and fertility: is there a connection?
In the last decades, researchers have suggested that gender equality may have a positive effect on fertility in high-income countries. While this conjecture appears to be true cross-sectionally, it does … Read more
Female political empowerment decreases mortality in developing countries
Gender equality in political participation may make a difference. Ross Macmillan, Naila Shofia, and Wendy Sigle show that women’s presence in national legislatures above a threshold of around 30 percent … Read more
Counting excess under-5 female mortality in Indian districts
Excess female mortality resulting from gender discrimination in the postnatal period was still common in India at the beginning of the century. Yet, little attention has been paid so far … Read more
Present and future of female genital mutilation/cutting in Europe
Although previously unknown among natives in EU28, the practice of female genital mutilation/cutting is a present concern for European policymakers. As many as 500,000 foreign-born girls and women in Europe … Read more
Women, demography and politics
Demographic variables, female-related predictors in particular, have an independent effect on political structure. Comparing different countries over time, when fertility rates decline, we observe a growth in democracy.Due to changes … Read more
Gender quotas beat Italy’s “male gerontocracy”
A boost to female empowerment Women are underrepresented in top positions everywhere in the world. Even in countries where more women participate in the labor market, only a minority makes … Read more
The geography of female-breadwinner and equal-income couples in Europe
An increasing number of couples today are dependent upon women’s labour income. Along with an increase in dual-earner couples, couples where the woman out-earns her partner are also on the … Read more
Beyond mothers who father: the study of female headship
More than half of a century has passed since Edith Clark first wrote “My Mother Who Fathered Me” in 1957, a classic study on single motherhood (marriage, sex, and concubinage) … Read more
How women in South Korea juggle work and family life
Employment and childbearing are important stages in a woman’s life course. Their relationship is influenced not only by individual characteristics, but also by the socio-economic and institutional context. Availability of … Read more
If American women have it so bad, why should India’s women not “not join” the labor force?
If there is one gender issue that has mainstream America rightly roiled up today, it has to do with women and work, or more specifically, women at work. Never-ending reports in … Read more
Allez les filles, au travail!
Freanch version below Two years ago, Neodemos received an article from Valeria SOLESIN, a young student who was then unknown to most demographers, in Italy or elsewhere. She was later … Read more