Differences in the Gini coefficients between any two periods are decomposed into the composition and the wage effects, as mentioned. Nine groups of covariates of interest are considered in the decomposition: demographic, education of the head, household structure, employment (men and women), work intensity (men and women) and skilled occupation (men and women).2 We focus, in particular, on three composition effects due to changes in women’s employment characteristics. Composition effects due to changes in men’s employment status are also discussed. Then a standard Stata programme oaxaca is used to perform a OB decomposition using the RIF as dependent variable.