Description:
Natural resource booms have differentiated employment dynamics once gender is considered. With this caveat in mind, we analyze the effect of mining booms in local labor markets where historically gender roles have undermined women’s participation and have marked gender roles regarding the women’s role in the household. Our results suggest that most of the job creation is driven by increases in male employment, predominantly in the mining sector, and indirectly in construction and local services brought by mining. Our results suggest the mining boom has increased men’s and non-married women’s job opportunities but decreased for those women married or with children at home. As the gender gaps seem to increase, women who exit the labor market are those who have a high workload at home. Our findings highlight the importance of the care economy and gender relations in shaping the labor outcomes of men and women