Barriers to gender parity

The fact that women are primarily responsible for childcare and household chores can be due to intrinsic gender differences in talent for these tasks or to differences in external constraints. Research under this theme will tell between the two explanations and identify the relevant constraints, including laws, social norms, and discrimination in the labour market, as well as the possibility of violence increasing the costs of working outside the home, shifting from the informal to the formal sector or migrating to urban areas. What determines the adoption of equal opportunity laws? What is the role of social and legal institutions for women’s work? How do norms on female work vary across time and between societies and how do they change? How do norms on insurance and the expectation that women care about their relatives discourage women to choose high- paying jobs?