Gender differences in labor force participation rates in Spain and Italy under the Great Recession

This article analyzes gender differences in the decision to participate in the labor market under the economic crisis that derive from differences in women’s position in the job structure, the family and the welfare economy. In order to test the behavior of male and female labor supply in Spain and Italy, we estimate labor supply models for women and men living in couples. The results show a strong countercyclical added-worker effect for women, in contrast with a procyclical discouraged-worker effect for men. Though the added-worker effect prevails for women in Spain, in Italy the discouraged worker effect dominates.