Labor Income Gap in the Tourism Sector in Colombia: A Gender Equity Approach

Abstract

This chapter aims to contribute to the identification of the factors that determine the labor income gap in the tourism sector in Colombia, from a gender equity approach for the period 2019–2023. In Colombia, after the pandemic, it is one of the sectors with the highest growth and a contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.3%, which is why this research analyzes the tourism sector, taking into account the impact of COVID-19 and the higher proportion of women employed in the sector. The methodology applied is the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition to assess income disparities between men and women in the tourism sector in Colombia, using the Gran Encuesta Integrada de Hogares (GEIH) for the year 2023. The results of the decomposition show the coefficient of the unexplained component when men and women have similar levels of education and age, men tend to earn more than women. The explained component shows that part of the wage gap is due to differences in observable characteristics, such as education and age, which favor women.