Does connectivity reduce gender gaps in off‐farm employment? Evidence from 12 low‐ and middle‐income countries

Gender gaps in labor force participation developing countries persist despite income growth or structural change. We assess this persistence across economic geographies within countries, focusing on youth employment off-farm wage jobs. combine household survey data from 12 with geospatial population density. The gender gap increases connectivity rural to peri-urban areas and disappears high-density urban areas. In non-rural areas, child dependency does not constrain young women, secondary education improves their access persists for married women independent of improvements, indicating social norm constraints.