Arab spring protests and women’s labor market outcomes : evidence from the Egyptian revolution

Abstract EN

We analyze the effects of the 2011 Egyptian protests on the relative labor market conditions of women using panel information from the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey (ELMPS).

We construct our measure of intensity of the protests – the governorate-level number of “martyrs” (i.e., demonstrators who died during the protests) - using unique information from the Statistical Database of the Egyptian Revolution.

We find that the 2011 protests have reduced the gender gap in labor force participation by increasing women’s unemployment and private sector employment.

The political change has mostly affected the relative labor market outcomes of women in households at the bottom of the pre-revolution income distribution.

We link these findings to the literature showing how a relevant shock to the labor division between women and men may have long run consequences on the role of women in society.