N° 133 : EUROPEAN LABOUR MARKETS IN TIMES OF CRISIS

The economic crisis which began in 2008 has hit European countries diversely, causing economic and labour market disequilibria of more or less magnitude. As with past global crises, the current one has gendered implications. While women’s employment was preserved relative to men’s in the early stage of the Great Recession, austerity plans implemented in several countries to limit public deficits and debts seem to have affected female workers more deeply thereafter. How gendered are labour market changes in recession and austerity and how should crosscountry differences be analysed? This special issue of the Revue de l’OFCE aims to shed light on the differences in the gendered dimensions of past and/or present crises and their related policy impacts on European labour markets. The issue includes several comparative papers that either deal with the effects of the crisis at a European Union level, or focus on events in country groups most hit by the crisis and austerity (the central and eastern European (CEE) countries). To complete the panorama, this issue also includes case-studies of several countries to help understand the great variety of crises and the gender impacts on labour markets of subsequent public policies.