per capita income is at the extreme poverty line (161,099 COP), women have a probability of participating in the labor market of 75% in 2019, compared to 95% for men, resulting in a 22percentage point difference. At the moderate poverty line (350,000 COP), the gap narrows to 17 percentage points, and in households with a per capita income of 1 million COP, the gap is reduced to 13 percentage points. Beyond that, the gap stabilizes at 10 percentage points. This finding is particularly significant as it highlights that in situations of poverty or vulnerability, men tend to assume income-generating roles while women's responsibilities revolve around caring for the home and family. Consequently, women acquire fewer or no skills and experience in productive sectors compared to men, leading to greater economic dependence for partnered women. Again, the pandemic exacerbated this gap, but only in lower-income households.

Regarding schooling, the results at the mean in 2019 indicate a probability of approximately 70% for women with no education, implying a gender gap of around 30 percentage points compared to men in the same group (Figures 27-28). As years of education increase, the probability rises and the gap shrinks to around 30 percentage points. However, men consistently have higher participation rates at any level of education. During the pandemic, women with less than 15 years of education were less likely to participate, with activity levels decreasing as the level of education approaches zero.

When examining participation gaps by age groups, both the CMEs (Figure 29) and AMEs (Figure 30) reveal higher gaps in labor market participation for older age groups (+20 percentage points), while for individuals in their 20s, the gap is around 10%. Although it is positive that the intergenerational gap has reduced, it is concerning that it still persists. Older women were particularly impacted during the pandemic, likely due to their predominant roles in caregiving activities and household chores.

For women residing in rural areas (Figure 31), the AME indicates an 8-percentage point decrease in the likelihood of labor market participation in 2019 compared to urban areas. In 2021, this probability also declined for women in urban areas. Furthermore, being married or in a union (Figure 31) leads to a drop of approximately 13 percentage points in the likelihood of women's labor market participation, while slightly increasing it for men. This dynamic contributes to a structural expansion of the gender gap. These findings highlight the persistence of gender disparities in labor market participation, with certain factors such as age, rural residence, and marital status exacerbating these gaps. Efforts to address these inequalities and promote gender equity in the labor market remain crucial.

# **Gender labor income gaps**

First, we analyze the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition results. Figure 33 illustrates the decomposition of real hourly labor income using the Heckman correction from 2015 to 2021. The total income gap for women in 2015 and 2017 was 11% and 9%, respectively. However, the gap sharply decreased to 2% in 2019 (non-comparable result) and returned to 3% in 2021. The