Do Labor Market Opportunities Affect Young Women's Work and Family Decisions? Experimental Evidence from India *

This thesis explores issues of labour market theory to investigate the determinants of women's labour force participation in Queensland. The thesis broadens current knowledge by offering a retrospective account of Queensland women's labour force involvement - information currently lacking - as well as providing an updated snapshot of Queensland women's current labour supply behaviour. Using econometric modelling techniques, time-series models are formed to uncover the factors behind women's rising participation rates over time. Complementary cross-sectional models are constructed to distinguish the individual characteristics that make women more or less likely to participate in the labour force at any point in time. Time-series analysis uses ABS data spanning the years 1975 to 2000, while cross-sectional analysis uses 1996 Census unit record files. Beyond economic factors, this study considers the role of other social and demographic factors in explaining women's labour force behaviour. Further, it acknowledges the influence of unquantifiable, psychological factors that account for that part of participation rates that econometric models cannot capture. Results are interpreted in a theoretical context. The main findings confirm the dominance of a substitution effect in women's labour market. The analysis also reveals that women's participation decisions are strongly determined by other economic variables and individual demographic characteristics. Distinctions are drawn between the labour supply behaviour of married and non-married women, and between full-time and part-time participation. The study highlights the need to consider the unordered nature of women's labour market behaviour, an econometric practice overlooked by previous researchers. Policy implications are also discussed.

Unanticipated Effects of California's Paid Family Leave Program

This paper describes how the composition of the labor force changes with economic development. It considers recent trends in women's labor force participation and the type of jobs held in various sectors as national per capita income increases. The paper notes that women are more likely to work in the family or informal labor market if the labor costs to firms exceed the opportunity costs of female labor to family enterprises. Firms are at a relative disadvantage compared with families in the employment of less experienced and less skilled labor, presumably because their labor costs are affected by such regulations as minimum wage, social insurance premiums and limits on firing. In Asia and Africa, an increase in the proportion of employment in firms within the major sectors accounts for most of the rapid growth in women's overall share of wage employment. In Latin America, however, growth in the proportion of firm employment has been slower than elsewhere, and the share of women in wage employment has even fallen overall in several countries. It is not unreasonable to assume that women have lost more than men from market regulations and distortions, but little research has addressed this proposition. If it is true, however, these interventions in the labor market may be responsible for slowing women's transition from nonmarket and family work to firm employment. This in turn may affect the rate and structure of economic growth.

This study examines whether living with other adults enables married and single mothers in New York City to enter the labor market. Multivariate analyses of data on over 8,000 households revealed that living with coresident adults increased the participation of Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Asian single mothers, and enabled all mothers of young children and all foreign-born mothers to enter the labor market. In a separate analysis of extended households, the proportions of elderly and employed coresident adults increased women 's labor force participation, while the proportion of coresident adults who reported child care/family responsibilities as their reason for not being in the labor force decreased women's paid labor activity. Our findings suggest that coresident adults serve different functions within the household, which in turn influence women's labor force decisions in various ways. In recent years attention has focused on the various ways in which families manage social and economic difficulties. One strategy that has received considerable research attention is household extension, or the incorporation of adults other than the husband and wife into the household. Incorporating other adults may benefit the household in a number of ways. Co-resident adults may contribute to the household's pool of financial resources, thereby potentially increasing the economic well-being of household members. Or they may provide domestic labor, which might enable the wife or female householder to devote more time to paid employment. Angel and Tienda (1982) argued that household extension may be an important adaptive strategy for minority families, in that additional income contributions may compensate for low earnings or sporadic unemployment. In this article we analyze the relationship between household extension and mothers' labor force participation among six racial and ethnic groups in New York City. In so doing, we largely replicate an earlier analysis by Tienda and Glass (1985) using current data from one of the nation's most diverse cities. However, we expand upon the earlier analysis in three ways: by including an indicator of the supply of child care in the household, by examining a broader array of racial/ethnic groups, and by analyzing the role that birthplace plays in influencing women's labor market behavior. DETERMINANTS OF WOMEN'S LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION Family structure has long been recognized as an important determinant of women's labor force participation. Typically, family characteristics--such as marital status, the presence of young children, and the presence of coresident adults--affect the amount of time women can spend in domestic and market activities. Including other adults in the household may ease the strain of balancing domestic and market responsibilities, especially for single mothers and mothers of young children who may have the least flexibility in devoting time to the labor market. Prior research has shown that women who live in extended households are more likely than women who do not live with coresident adults to be in the labor force, yet this relationship varies by race/ethnicity (Barry Figueroa & Melendez, 1993; Stier, 1991; Stier & Tienda, 1992; Tienda & Glass, 1985). Moreover, women's labor force behavior appears to be influenced by the specific characteristics of coresident adults. For example, as the number of coresident adults increases, married mothers' participation decreases, suggesting greater domestic burdens; by contrast, as the proportion of female coresident adults increases so does single mothers' participation, suggesting that coresident women function as surrogate domestic workers (Tienda & Glass, 1985). Living with coresident employed adults increases labor force participation among young mothers, while living with coresident nonworking adults--presumably a source of child care--depresses paid labor activity (Parish, Hao, & Hogan, 1991). …

Sustainable economic growth at national and global level depends on the significant participation of women in the labor force. Because women compose half of the world population in terms of human capital and labor. Despite the developments in recent years, there is still gender inequality in labor markets around the world and labor force participation rate of women is lower than men. There are many factors affecting the participation of women in the labor force in all developed and developing countries. The effect levels of these factors on the participation rate differ depending on the development levels of the countries. In this context, the role of women's education and labor force participation on development is an important issue especially for all developing country. Therefore, the aim of the study is to examine the relationship between women's labor force participation rates and economic growth in transition economies. For this purpose, the generalized method of moments, which is a dynamic panel data analysis technique, is applied in the study using data between 1995-2019. Analysis findings reveal that there is a U-shaped relationship between women's labor force participation rate and economic growth in transition economies competible with the literature. As a result, reducing gender inequality and increasing women's labor force participation rates positively affect economic growth, income inequality and social welfare, so it is great importance that policy practitioners create a comprehensive women's employment policy and ensure that women play an active role in the labor force.

Tables and figures Acknowledgments 1. Married women's labor in East Asian economies Mary C. Brinton 2. Married women's employment in rapidly industrializing societies: South Korea and Taiwan Mary C. Brinton, Yean-Ju Lee, and William L. Parish 3. Family demands, gender attitudes, and married women's labor force participation: comparing Japan and Taiwan Wei-hsin Yu 4. Women, work, and marriage in three east Asian labor markets: the cases of Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea Yean-Ju Lee and Shuichi Hirata 5. Women's education and the labor market in Japan and South Korea Mary C. Brinton and Sunhwa Lee 6. Women's solidarity: company policies and Japanese office ladies Yuko Ogasawara 7. Mothers as the best teachers: Japanese motherhood and early childhood education Keiko Hirao 8. Women's education, work, and marriage in South Korea Sunhwa Lee 9. Taking informality into account: women's work in the formal and informal sectors in Taiwan Wei-hsin Yu 10. The 'boss's wife' and Taiwanese small familt business Yu-Hsia Lu 11. Daughters, parents, and globalization: the case of Taiwan Nidhi Mehrotra and William L. Parish Notes References Index.

This study examines the effect of the presence of a "mother substitute" in the household on urban womens participation in the labor force and fertility in Mexico in 1982. Data were obtained from the 1982 Mexican National Demographic Survey on reproductive history educational status employment status and household structure for a subsample of 2746 urban women who were married (90%) or in a consensual union (10%) and had had a child within the prior 5 years. Theoretically women with higher value of market time lower household income and lower value of nonmarket time will more likely be working women. Women had 3.4 surviving children 83% used contraceptives and 15% were employed. Analysis involved use of reduced form equations to model the joint determination of labor force participation and fertility; justification of this method is given. Husbands education was a proxy for income level. Cost of child rearing is figured as the mothers number of children >5 years and household structure. "Mother substitute" was an additional unemployed female aged >13 years. An imputed wage for all women in the sample is used to measure the value of time in the labor force. Probit regression estimation methods revealed that mothers were more likely to be working when their wage offers were higher. Those with a caretaker in the household and with a less well-educated husband are also more likely to work. Those more likely to be employed also had few children 6-12 years and more children >13 years. In the fully reduced form of the equation determinants of the wage offer (education age region) were substituted for the instrumental variable; the results were consistent. An additional woman in the household was significantly positively related to the likelihood of women working. In the reduced form fertility equation women who were younger better educated with more children and with better educated partners were less likely to have more than 1 child born within the last 5 years. The implication from the negative coefficient of the household-structure variable is that women with additional caretakers are less likely to have more than 1 young child. The causes are explained. Mother substitutes increase the likelihood of working women and do not increase the likelihood of having more children particularly among nonemployed mothers which differs from US results. Future research should refine the measure of mother substitute and account for her presence in the household.

UN and World Bank data on developing countries were used to examine variations across countries in child mortality and fertility patterns and to determine the impact of literacy and schooling, labor force participation of women, contraceptive use, availability of health services, and households headed by women on fertility rates and child mortality. The Schultz-Becker theoretical framework formed the basis of the analysis with ordinary least squares methods and extreme bounds analysis (EBA) used to test for robustness. The findings were that fertility was decreased due to women's human capital, women's labor force participation, and married women's use of contraception. The most powerful effect on fertility was contraceptive use, followed by women's labor force participation. Without contraceptive use in the model, women's literacy and school enrollments were negative and statistically significant. 66-81% of the variation in fertility rates was explained. EBA results showed the main variables as stable and consistent and, consequently, robust. Child mortality was strongly affected by women's schooling and labor force participation. Child mortality was negatively affected by availability of trained health services personnel at birth. Households headed by women had higher child mortality, but the association was weak. The main variables explained 84-89% of the variation in child mortality, and EBA results confirmed robustness. Socioeconomic improvement without attention to the health and educational needs of women would be counterproductive. Unfortunately, the structural adjustment program has resulted in the decline in health and educational services in developing countries, which severely affects low income women and households headed by women.

The asymmetric role of crime in women's and men's labour force participation: Evidence from India

The World Bank is launching an initiative aimed at addressing the economic needs of adolescent girls and young women in poor or post-conflict countries. Working together with governments, donors, foundations, and private sector partners, the Bank proposes to develop and test a core set of promising interventions to promote the economic empowerment of adolescent girls and young women. This paper undertakes a review of existing policies and programs designed to promote labor force participation of young women in developing countries. While programs that directly address marriage or fertility can influence young women's labor force participation, the focus of this paper is on programs primarily addressing employment. Some programs for promoting young people's transition into the labor market take a minimalistic approach (for example, concentrating on skills training alone). Other employment programs, particularly those targeted to young women, simultaneously address multiple constraints limiting participation (for example, lack of skills, limited mobility, child care needs, and lack of sexual and reproductive health information). The goal of this paper is to unpack and assess what elements of program design are essential to promoting young women's transition to the labor market. The paper is organized as follows: section one gives introduction. Section two provides an overview of some of the major trends and issues facing young women in the labor market in an international context. Section three describes a selection of best practice programs, some of which are focused exclusively on employment training and others of which take a more integrated approach to providing gender-targeted adolescent services. Section four details the lessons learned from the implementation and evaluation of these programs, and considers the circumstances under which a minimalist versus comprehensive or integrated approach may be most effective. Section five concludes and summarizes the policy and program recommendations.

The objective of this study was to identify differences in child care availability by rural-urban location for all counties in Wisconsin, and describe implications for recruitment and retention of health care workforce. We used data on licensed child care slots for young children (age <5), socio-demographic characteristics, women's and men's labor force participation, and household structure for all counties in Wisconsin in 2013 (n=72). Data came from KIDS COUNT, County Health Rankings, and the American Community Survey. We used t tests to analyze bivariate differences in child care availability and community characteristics by metropolitan, micropolitan, and non-core rural location. We then used ordinary least squares regression to analyze the relationship between geographic location and child care slots, adjusting for labor force participation and household structure. Rural counties had significantly fewer licensed child care slots per child than metropolitan and micropolitan counties. These counties also had, on average, higher rates of poverty and higher unemployment than micropolitan and metropolitan counties. The association between geographic location and child care availability remained, even after adjusting for household structure and labor force participation. The number of hours men worked and the percentage of men not working were both negatively associated with available child care slots, whereas there was not a significant relationship between women's labor force participation and child care availability. Rural areas face health care workforce shortages. Recruitment strategies to overcome shortages must move beyond individual-level incentives to focus on community context and family support, including availability of child care in rural counties.

A quantitative theory of the new life cycle of women's employment

We examine the effect of California paid family leave (CPFL) on young women's labor force participation and unemployment, relative to men and older women. CPFL enables workers to take at most 6 weeks of paid leave over a 12‐month period in order to bond with new born or adopted children, or to care for sick family members or ailing parents. The policy benefits women, especially young women, as they are more prone to take such a leave. However, the effect of the policy on overall labor market outcomes is less clear. We apply difference‐in‐difference techniques to identify the effects of the CPFL legislation on young women's labor force participation and unemployment. We find that the labor force participation rate, the unemployment rate, and the duration of unemployment among young women rose in California compared to men (particularly young men) and older women in California, and to other young women, men, and older women in states that did not adopt PFL. The latter two findings regarding higher young women's unemployment and unemployment duration are unanticipated effects of the CPFL program. We utilize robustness checks as well as unique placebo tests to validate these results.(JEL H43, J13, J18, J48)

This paper contributes to our understanding of the social impact of economic restructuring and globalization in Mexico by analyzing changes in entry-level employment across three generations of Mexican women. Using retrospective data, we relate the divergent period conditions represented by each cohort to the process of labor market incorporation and other facets of first employment, namely first occupation, class of worker, and firm size. The analysis tests human capital, new international division of labor, and household strategy explanations of the response of female employment to macro-economic fluctuations. Results indicate that rising levels of human capital were central to increases in women's labor force participation across generations and improved labor demand conditions during growth cycles were an important impetus for women's incorporation into professional and more formal types of employment. We also find support for international division of labor perspectives, as women's representation in manufacturing (maquiladora) employment grew substantially over time. Overall, household survival theories best captured the effect of economic restructuring and globalization on women's work. Economic downturns and financial shocks triggered women's labor market incorporation, particularly among married women, lending strong support to the idea that in periods of economic uncertainty women join the labor market in order to diversify household earnings and protect against deteriorating family incomes. However, this labor market push was concentrated in domestic and self-employed occupations and in smaller firms, findings that portend challenges to the long-term prospects of women's work in Mexico.

This study focuses upon Greek women aged in their twenties and thirties, examining how they have experienced ‘emerging adulthood’ amidst the post-2008 social and economic crisis. Despite several commentaries charting the social consequences of the Greek crisis, few have examined exclusively on young women. This thesis is among the first to demonstrate the gendered effects of the Greek crisis. Based on in-depth interviews with 36 young women in Thessaloniki and Athens, the study assesses how young women negotiate ‘emerging adulthood’, by examining certain attributes of the crisis, combined with Greece’s unique cultural fabric. The thesis examines how traditional markers of adulthood, such as having a job, acquiring accommodation, establishing stable romantic relations and forming families have been considerably curtailed due to the effects of the crisis. The findings of the thesis are positioned around three major themes; firstly, the importance of education and work for young women during emerging adulthood. Due to a reduction in labour market opportunities in medium-high skilled work, young middle-class women have found themselves facing considerably curtailed employment prospects. The study examines how young women negotiate these challenging employment contexts, learning to find ways of coping within these situations. Secondly, with most young women forced to live with parents, the thesis examines the ways these living situations provide both a safety net, but also a hinderance to their sense of autonomy and independence. Finally, the thesis explores how young middle-class women in Greece negotiate love and intimacy under conditions of financial hardships and a general context of uncertainties and insecurities. The thesis concludes with the argument that significant social uncertainties and repeated experiences of personal injustice and social strain have resulted in resignation - an accepted state of their life events with few alternatives and hopes of positive change.