ABSTRACT
During the 1980s and 1990s women's economic activity rates increased everywhere except in Sub-Saharan Africa, parts of Europe and Central Asia, and Oceania (UN 2000). Between 1990 and 2002, women's share of nonagricultural employment increased in 93 of 131 countries, driven in part by changes in the international economic environment. Yet women's status in the labor market remains significantly inferior to men's according to several key indicators. Occupational segregation by sex is widespread and leads to allocational inefficiencies and gender wage gaps. Gender inequality in employment contravenes women's right to decent work and is costly for women, their households, and their communities.
