Labor market outcomes for women in East Asia

Abstract

In this study, I provide comparative pictures of labor market outcomes for women in four East Asian countries to gain an understanding of the dimension of gender hierarchy. Labor market outcomes for women, with respect to gender gap, include employment rates, working hours, and wages. I try to explain here what factors would account for the differences in women's labor market outcomes across these countries, drawing on how social and labor policies at the national level shape different characteristics of female labor force participation. I rely on the methodology used by OECD Family Database and present comparative statistics on countries for which data are available. I found that women in East Asia have increasingly entered the labor market, except for China where market forces have had a negative influence on female workers during the capitalistic economic reform. It is seen that country-specific social and labor policies, reflecting different attitudes towards the gendered division of labor across countries, shape patterns and trends for women's participation in the labor market in different ways.