Gender segmention in the West Bank and Gaza strip: Explaining the absence of Palestinian women from the formal labor force

Abstract

This paper argues that the longstanding absence of Palestinian women from the formal labor force in the West Bank and Gaza Strip can be located in the distorted nature of Palestinian labor markets as they were patterned and conditioned by economic policies aimed at meeting the needs of the Israeli economy. The extremely gender segmented and concentrated nature of Palestinian labor markets is an outcome of the way in which gender relations in Palestinian society interact with the extremely constrained labor opportunities for the population as a whole. As such, the informal sector remains the dominant option for women seeking work income.

Citation

Hammami, R. (2001), "Gender segmention in the West Bank and Gaza strip: Explaining the absence of Palestinian women from the formal labor force", The Economics of Women and Work in the Middle East and North Africa (Research in Middle East Economics, Vol. 4), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 175-203. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1094-5334(01)04011-0