Gender gap decomposition in employment rate of young people

Differences in behavior between women and men have long been observed in the labor market. Occupational segregation, lack of equal opportunities and lower wages are still linked to the lower opportunity cost that leaving the labor market implies for women. In this paper we analyze, using decomposition techniques, the gap in the employment rate between young women and men. These techniques allow us to separate the weight of observed characteristics from the weight of preferences or unobserved factors. Our results reveal that both types of factors are relevant in the gender gap in the employment rate. Preferences or unobserved factors, such as the different perception that both genders have of family and involvement of women in housework, which leads to greater female labor abandonment, are likely to be behind the gender gap in the case of already having job.