The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Labor Market in Argentina

Abstract

This paper investigates gender differences in the short- and longer-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment status in Argentina. Using individual cross-sectional and panel data from household surveys, we compare employment status (inactive, unemployed, self-employed, or employed, distinguishing between the formal and informal sectors) before, immediately after, and a year after the pandemic. We examine how gender intersects with education and age in affecting employment status transitions and the extent to which COVID-19 deepened gender, educational, and age inequalities. In the short term, the pandemic impacted the labor market position of men and women similarly. Partly because of the labor market policies of Argentina, the pandemic idled both men and women, particularly those in the informal sector but also the self-employed. However, after the pandemic, men regained their pre-pandemic status while women remained (or became) inactive. Within genders, labor market recovery varied with education and age. Young and less educated women were more exposed to the immediate and longer-term negative effects in a manner not observed among men. The pandemic accentuated not only gender inequalities in the labor market but also socioeconomic inequalities among women.