The Gendered Inequality Impact of the Cost-of-Living Crisis: A Comparative Analysis

The Gendered Inequality Impact of the Cost-of-Living Crisis: A Comparative Analysis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The Gendered Inequality Impact of the Cost-of-Living Crisis: A Comparative Analysis Denisa M. Sologon, Cathal O’Donoghue, Karina Doorley, Iryna Kyzyma, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6506200/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This paper explores the distributional and welfare impact of the cost-of-living crisis in Europe, differentiated by gender, thereby addressing the gap in the literature on gender-specific effects of inflation. Using household consumption data linked to price changes between April 2021 and July 2023 across six European countries, it examines how different consumption patterns between male-and female-headed households influence their exposure to inflation. By relying on the full distribution of household-specific inflation rates and quantile regression approach, the results show gender-specific disparities in inflation exposure and inequality. Across countries, women-led households are more impacted by heating and electricity inflation, while men are more affected by motor fuel and services inflation; in both cases, gender disparities diminish with rising income. The paper further evaluates the welfare changes attributable to inflation by estimating a behaviourally-adjusted welfare effect. Building on the Atkinson welfare measure, we decompose the change in welfare into equity and efficiency components, differentially for male-and female-headed households. By doing it, the paper enriches our understanding of the differential impact of inflation across household types, providing information for designing better and more targeted policies. JEL Codes: D12, D31, D60, E31, I30, J16 inflation and gender inflation inequality and gender distributional effect and gender welfare effect and gender Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 22 Jul, 2025 Reviews received at journal 03 Jul, 2025 Reviews received at journal 30 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 May, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 May, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 03 May, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 23 Apr, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 23 Apr, 2025 First submitted to journal 22 Apr, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6506200","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":447140893,"identity":"a40c6aaa-e915-40bc-9980-7fa1d5479522","order_by":0,"name":"Denisa M. 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