What Does In-Work Poverty Mean for Women: Comparing the Gender Employment Segregation in Belgium and China
This article presents an analysis of the female working poor in relation to gender employment segregation. It draws a cross-national profile of the female working poor in Belgium and China: two different nations with distinct stories of socio-economic development and cultural heritage, while both are characterized by high female employment participation. Analyses show that (1) women share a higher proportion among the total working poor population in both nations during recent years, whereas (2) in-work poverty has been a chronic condition, particularly among female workers in low-quality jobs. Thus, to some extent, labor market institutions may shape this gendered tendency of in-work poverty. In this article, women’s position in the public sphere in relation to employment segregation is discussed, and a contextual analysis identifies the causes of gender employment segregation. The results shed light on the crucial role of gender employment segregations related to in-work poverty and show that gender ideology and stereotypes do matter in explaining such employment differences. We argue that the promotion of female participation should be combined with explicit measures to reduce the disadvantageous position of women in the labor market.