Changing gender role attitudes and the changing gender gap in labour force participation

Abstract

This paper uses micro-data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey to examine the relationship between gender role attitudes and the labour supply of men and women. Using the Wellington decomposition technique, the paper also considers how much of the change in the gender gap in labour force participation (LFP) between 2001/5 and 2015/19 may be explained by changes in the gender role attitudes of adult women and men. The results show a 6.5 percentage point convergence in the gender gap in LFP between the two periods. Nearly half the convergence arises from a change in the schooling attainment of men and women. Just over one-third is due to changes in gender role attitudes (faster adoption of egalitarian gender role attitudes by women).