This paper, published in the CSAE Working Paper Series, WPS/2023-04 investigates the relationship between skills and the gender gap in earnings using Young Lives data from the Older Cohort in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam. 

The results suggest that women earn significantly less than men in all four countries, even after accounting for differences in skills. Interestingly, the gender gap in earnings decreases at higher cognitive skill levels in two out of the four countries - Peru and Ethiopia.   Country-level variations are driven by differences in employment status as opposed to differences in earnings among the employed, and may reflect differences in unpaid care work. The authors also explore how the gender earnings gap varies in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. While earnings decreased for both men and women during this period, the pre-pandemic relationships between skills and gender gaps persisted and were strengthened.

Read the Working Paper here and visit our Gender, Education and Skills webpage here for more about Young Lives work on this theme.