Women's Changing Participation in the Labor Force: A World Perspective

Researchers have identified some of the factors affecting female labor force participation (FLFP) as: economic dependency, income inequality, family structure, and fertility, among others. This paper will study the impact of dependency ratios on female labor force participation in the US Border States with Mexico (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California). We use dependency ratios to measure the role of females’ as economic producers and active members of the labor force. The most important finding was that changes in population age structure, affects the female labor force participation rate in the Border States. By following Kelley's approach on dependency ratios, we found that children have a negative effect on the female labor force participation rate. The constant care and attention required by children seems to impede females’ participation in the labor force. However, the elderly population was found to have a positive effect on female labor force participation rate, which could suggest that the elder's involvement in the household promotes female economic activity.

Purpose In this study, the relationship between female labour force participation rate and economic growth is investigated in middle-income countries. The study covers the period of 2001–2016 by employing a dynamic panel approach. Pooled Ordinary Least Square and Fixed Effects model estimations are calculated as a decision criterion to select proper GMM Method. The outcomes indicate that the proper estimation technique, which is a System-GMM model, evidences the U Feminisation Theory for the middle-income countries while controlling all other factors. Design/methodology/approach The novelty of this study is that the research not only employs both difference and system generalised method of moments (GMM) estimators but also includes main explanatory variables such as education, fertility, and total labour force rate. The study provides an opportunity to review the U-shape nexus between the female labour force and economic growth while controlling education, fertility and total labour participation rate. Findings The estimation implies that middle-income countries support a U-shaped relationship. The fertility rate does not impact on the female labour force, and education and total labour force level have a positive influence on women's participation in the labour market. Research limitations/implications This study used data that include the period of 2001–2016 for middle-income countries. So, further studies can use different periods of data or different countries. Practical implications The authors emphasise the importance of economic growth for female labour force for middle-income countries. Thus, a country intending to increase female labour force should also focus on its economic growth. As the study points out, middle-income countries staying under the minimum threshold, $4698.15 (per capita), should priorities their economic improvement policies to reach their female labour force participation goal. Those countries also should be prepared for a female labour force participation declining phase until they reach the turning point income level. Social implications Furthermore, education is one of the critical determinants that have an impact on FLFPR. The equal opportunity for both genders to engage in education should be considered as a policy. If females do not have an equal chance to enrolment in education, it may influence the policy of increasing female labour force adversely. Fertility rate appears no more statistically significant in our study. Moreover, today, there are some countries they practise equality between genders by providing equally extended parental leave, which may be a promising policy for gender equality in the labour force and may worth a try. Originality/value Some previous studies may suffer model mistakes due to lack of consideration the endogeneity problem and bias issue of the results as suggested by Tam (2011). Moreover, previous studies tend to choose either studying U-feminisation as excluding other variables or studying determinants of female labour force participation rate as excluding U-feminisation theory. There is not any panel data study acknowledging both concepts by using recent data to the best knowledge of the authors. Thus, the novelty of this study is that the research not only employs both difference and system generalised method of moments (GMM) estimators but also includes main explanatory variables such as education, fertility, and total labour force rate. The study provides an opportunity to review the U-shape nexus between the female labour force and economic growth while controlling education, fertility and total labour participation rate.

The increase in income per capita is accompanied, in virtually all countries, by two changes in economic structure: the increase in the share of government spending in gross domestic product (GDP), and the increase in female labor force participation. We argue that these two changes are causally related. We develop a growth model based on Galor and Weil (1996) where female participation in market activities, fertility, and government size, in addition to consumption and saving, is endogenously determined. Rising incomes lead to a rise in female labor force participation as the opportunity cost of staying at home and caring for the children increases. In our model, higher government spending decreases the cost of performing household chores, including, but not limited to, child rearing and child care, as in Rosen (1996). We also use a wide cross-section of data for developed and developing countries and show that higher market participation by women is positively and robustly associated with government size. We then investigate the causal link between participation and government size using a novel unique data set that allows the use of the relative price of productive home appliances as an instrumental variable. We find strong evidence of a causal link between female market participation and government size. This effect is robust to the country sample, time period, and a set of controls in the spirit of Rodrik (1998). (JEL O4, E62, H11)

Abstract. The paper contributes by providing new insights into the relationship between female labor force and economic growth in 162 world countries over the period 19902012. It was hypothesized that an analysis would reveal a U-shaped relationship between female labor force participation and economic growth. The analysis is run from two different perspectives - in the first, the relationship is examined for a sample encompassing 162 countries; and in the second - the evidence is disaggregated and the relationship is re-examined within four income-groups (low-income, lower-middle-income, upper-middle-income and high-income). To examine these relationships, data on female labor force participation and per capita income are extracted from the World Development Indicators 2013 database, and the relationship is examined by deploying panel data analysis assuming non-linearity between variables. The main findings support the hypothesis of the U-shaped relationship between female labor force participation and economic growth, however high cross-country variability on the field is reported. Moreover, the U-shaped feminization hypothesis was not positively verified in the case of low-income countries.Keywords: women, female labor force, feminization, U-shaped curve, economic growthJEL classification: J21, O10, O50IntroductionThe worldwide trends can be summarized as exhibiting a relatively steady relationship between women`s participation in the labor market and the stage of economic growth. A great majority of empirical studies demonstrate that in the initial phases of economic growth female labor force participation tends to be decreasing, while after reaching a certain level of output per capita, a positive relationship emerges and women`s engagement in the labor market grad-10.14254/2071789X.2015/8-1/19 ually increases. In this vein, the following paper contributes to the present state of knowledge by providing extensive evidence on re-examination of the hypothesis, according to which the statistical relationship between female labor force participation and economic growth follows the U-shaped pattern.The main goal of the paper is twofold. First, the authors provide new evidence on the U-shaped association between female labor force participation and economic growth in 162 countries over the period 1990-2012. To enrich the analysis, the authors deliberately disaggregate the evidence and exhibits by examining relationships in four distinct income-groups, namely: low-income, lower-middle-income, upper-middle-income and high-income countries1. Disaggregating the evidence sheds light on the issue providing a novel insight, and allows us to determine whether the U-feminization hypothesis is revealed only in the world sample, or -preferably - is held in respective income-groups. The data used in the consecutive analysis are exclusively derived from the World Development Indicators 2013 database. To meet the main empirical objectives, the preliminary graphical evidences are supported by the static and dynamic panel econometric methods.This paper is structured as follows. The introductory part is followed by sections explaining the conceptual background, data and methodological strategy. Sections 4 and 5 demonstrate empirical results, and the last part is the conclusion.1. BackgroundIn 1965 Sinha suggested that the feminization of labor force and the level of economic growth are described by the long-term U-shaped relationship. Since then onward, a substantial body of both theoretical and empirical evidence has concentrated on the cited relationship, giving updated insights into the issue. Although the relationship between female labor force participation and the level of economic growth is relatively stable and robust over time, still the outcomes vary if accounting for various countries or country groups.As already argued, a sizeable amount of evidence suggests a U-shaped relationship between female labor force (FLF) participation and economic growth (Tam, 2011; Lechman and Okonowicz, 2013; Olivetti, 2013; Tsani et al. …

Integration of women into the labor market has been a crucial indicator of economic development and social welfare. Although Turkey has taken important steps in terms of integrating with the world economy by shifting from an import-substituting industrialization model to an export-oriented growth strategy from the 1980s onward, female labor force participation rates and the significant regional variations in these rates indicate that women’s integration into the labor force has not kept pace with economic development. 
 The influence of economic growth on female employment participation has been discussed in many studies. But, studies analyzing the interdependent relationship of female labor force participation and economic growth as well as the interplay of labor force participation and sectoral GDP growth have been limited. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap by evaluating the relationships between female labor force participation rate and economic growth expressed by GDP per capita levels in Turkey for the 1990-2015 period, using data from the World Development Indicators (WDI) 2017 database of the World Bank. The empirical findings point to a strong correlation between the rate of female labor force participation in industry and services sectors and economic development.

This article attempts to disentangle the age–period–cohort (APC) effect of the puzzling decline in female labour force participation in India. The individual-level data obtained from the National Sample Survey (NSS) (1993–2018) have been put to use, and the maximum entropy approach has been adopted for analysis. This study reveals that the prime reproductive age of women largely contributes to determining female labour force participation in India, signifying a considerable influence of marriage and childbearing events on women’s working life. The results inform that rural, lower caste and low educated women have lower work participation rates, as against urban and higher educated women having a greater participation rate at a younger age. However, beyond the prime reproductive age, the participation rate of urban and higher educated women significantly declines, while the participation of rural, lower caste and low educated women tends to increase. The period 1999–2005 in particular depicts an adverse effect on female labour force participation across all population groups. But this period of adversity is maintained for rural and less educated women beyond 2005 as well, and is reversed for urban women and for those having secondary or higher levels of education. Furthermore, it is observed that the cohort effect (owing to declining fertility and better educational transition) does not display its expected role in inducing a rise in female labour force participation, contesting the prevailing sociocultural norms. In summary, this study observes that the APC effect is adverse for marginalised women, but a favourable prospect for higher educated and urban women. This study observes that age and period effects have a significant contribution to female labour participation in India. Besides, this study presents some salient features of women’s working life cycle behaviour that are highly relevant for policy discussions. The study concludes by arguing that generating investment in higher education and enabling an inclusive labour market with due consideration of women’s reproductive burden may help increase the female labour force participation rate (FLPR) in India.

Italy has very low female labour force participation (LFP hereafter) and fertility rates. Both phenomena have recently drawn the attention of many researchers and policy makers since they are likely to have very important economic consequences. On the one hand, low fertility rates, well below the population replacement level, have caused a progressive ageing of the Italian population, and the social contributions paid by current workers are becoming insufficient to finance the pensions of retired workers, causing huge problems of sustainability of the current pension system. On the other hand, unlike other European countries, in Italy female labour force participation rates are increasing very slowly, and this fact contributes to exacerbating the problem of the progressive lack of manpower related to population ageing. Some of the causes for the low LFP and fertility of Italian women that have been put forward are related to the specific characteristics of the Italian labour market and the Italian welfare system (see Del Boca, 2002b). As to the low female participation (in 1999 more than one out of two women were out of the labour market), it is often stressed that the Italian labour market is heavily regulated and characterised by high levels of employment protection and rigidity. According to an OECD (1999) study Italy ranks 1 between 3 -5 th out of 15 countries as to strictness for individual dismissal, 2 nd -3 rd as to strictness for collective dismissals, 2 nd for strictness of temporary employment regulation and 3 rd for overall employment protection. 2 The hiring system and the very strict firing rules have negative effects especially on the employment rate of particular segments of the labour market, such as young, female and old workers and also contributes to the high long-term unemployment rate. Moreover, part-time work, which may contribute to reconcile family and market work is scarcely diffused in Italy compared to other countries. 3 Eurostat (1999) reports that in 1998 in Italy only 10.1% of employed women worked part-time. The

Women’s work has never been a linear process of extending participation. Instead, female labour force participation (FLFP) has extended and curtailed throughout time. This dissertation studies a period of contraction: the nineteenth-century Netherlands. This country makes an important case study to explore the factors influencing the trajectory of women’s work. First, FLFP rates as recorded in occupational censuses were low compared with surrounding countries. Second, Dutch industrialization took off relatively late and until well into the twentieth century a significant part of the labour force worked in agriculture, in contrast to neighbouring countries such as Britain and Belgium. This dissertation contributes to answering the following question: Why were Dutch female labour force participation rates lower than in surrounding countries during the period 1830-1914? I consider the following explanatory factors: social norms, the opportunity costs of women’s labour, and structural change. My conclusions about the relative weight of each factor are as follows. First, social norms regarding women’s role within the household following from the growing desire for domesticity have affected the trajectory of women’s labour. I show that married women withdrew from the registered labour force and instead, performed work that could be combined with domestic chores and that remained invisible in most statistical sources. However, these social norms were likewise strong in other western European countries, such as Britain, where FLFP was higher. Furthermore, Dutch FLFP was already low around 1850 when the transition to the male breadwinner society in western Europe started. Thus, it is no conclusive explanation for the aberrant Dutch trend in FLFP. Second, men’s real industrial wages started to rise after 1880 and became increasingly able to take care of a family of four. However, this was not true for men’s agricultural wages. Women’s wages in both sectors hardly increased at all during the nineteenth century in both sectors. I therefore conclude that industrial households were already able to realize a breadwinner-homemaker type of labour division from the 1880s, whereas agricultural households still relied for an important part on other sources of income besides the husband’s wage labour by 1910. Thus, men’s wages profoundly influenced household labour division. However, in Britain, men’s real wages were even higher, but so were FLFP rates in the censuses. Thus, if the extent of men’s real wages was indeed the most important explanatory factor, we would have expected even lower participation rates in Britain than in the Netherlands. Third, the impact of economic structure and the changing demand for labour on FLFP has been a pivotal factor of influence. I show that the structure of the local economy had a statistically significant effect on the chance that a bride stated an occupation in her marriage record. Furthermore, in agriculture women increasingly performed work in a private business which was usually not registered in the censuses. Moreover, technological change in the textile industry and the transition to the factory system negatively impacted women’s position in the labour market because married women could no longer combine domestic chores with wage labour. Finally, many parts of the production process that had traditionally been women’s work were taken over by men when mechanization progressed. Considering all my research results, I conclude that the structure of the Dutch economy is the most important explanation for the exceptionally low Dutch FLFP rates during the long nineteenth century.

In recent years, Congress has considered a variety of work-subsidy programs designed to encourage work among welfare recipients. Many of these programs would subsidize individuals only if they work some minimum number of hours. Commonly used techniques cannot give direct answers to relevant policy questions since a tied offer is involved, and hence the offer cannot be treated as a simple wage change. The essence of the problem involves utility comparisons between two or more discrete alternatives. Such comparisons inherently require information about consumer preferences in a way not easily obtained from ordinary labor-supply functions. To make such comparisons, I present a method for directly estimating consumer indifference surfaces between money income and nonmarket time. Once these surfaces are determined, they can be used to compare a variety of alternative programs to investigate whether or not there is scope for Pareto-optimal redistribution of income transfers and time, improving the general level of welfare of the community at large without reducing the welfare of individuals receiving income transfers. Knowledge of these indifference surfaces allows us to estimate reservation wages to estimate the value of nonworking-women's time (Gronau 1973), laborforce participation functions, hours-of-work functions, and welfare losses due to income tax programs (Harberger 1964). I demonstrate that direct estimation of indifference surfaces allows us, at least in principle, to relax

The relationship between gender inequality and economic growth has become one of the most interesting and debated issues both in the academic literature and the policy arena. The aim of this study is to investigate how gender inequalities in the labour force participation (LFP) in North Cyprus undermine the per capita output of the country. Thus, the study is designed to estimate the simulation of a possible increase in per capita GDP based on 2011 data generated by the catch up of north female labour force participation rates to the south for the year 2011. Different age categories for female labour force are considered for the measurement. The age categories distributed within the working age population including female labour force population between the ages 15 and over. The age categories are divided into 5 groups as including the female participants between the age from 15 to 24, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, and 55 and over. Data used is obtained from the State Planning Organization (SPO) of North Cyprus government for North Cyprus and from the World Bank database for South Cyprus. The North Cyprus labour force participation rates are adjusted to the south as suggested by Bryant et. al. (2004). Parallel to the previous literature, it is found that female labour force participation (FLFP) rate has a positive impact on GDP in North Cyprus. There would have been a 4% higher per capita GDP with the catch up of north to south FLFP rate which might be a substantial contribution towards decreasing the income gap between north and south.

Female labor force participation and total fertility rates in the OECD: New evidence from panel cointegration and Granger causality testing

As a result of industrialization and various economic developments, female participation in the labor force has been ensured and this participation has increased day by day. Public, and private sector representatives make various investments, especially for including females in the labor force. There are many studies in the literature on the relationship between female participation in the labor force and economic development processes. The main question of this study is whether it is possible to differentiate the U-shape, which is realized as pre-industrial and post-industrial in modern countries, in Islamic countries. Contrary to the existing literature, the study argues that there is an inverted U-shaped (Kuznets curve) relationship between female labor and economic growth in Islamic countries, not a U-shaped relationship. Accordingly, it is argued that women in Islamic countries join the labor force when the economy is deteriorating and leave the labor force when the economy is improving. Within the framework of this hypothesis, the study investigates the Kuznets curve relationship between female labor force participation and economic development using data from 39 Islamic countries between 1990 and 2019. The study employs panel data analysis, a quantitative research method, to explore this relationship. As a result of the study, the Kuznets curve was found in at least one model in Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Sudan, Tunisia, Senegal and Comoros. The U-shaped feminization hypothesis is confirmed in at least one model in Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Malaysia, Oman, Türkiye, Yemen, UAE, Burkina Faso, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. In line with the study's claim, some Islamic countries represent the Kuznets curve contrary to the general feminization U theory. Religion, culture, and legal codes are thought to be the reason behind the Kuznets curve found between female labor force participation rate and economic development.

The Arab Spring (AS) event characterized the recent history of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It brought about various economic, political, and social conditions and transformations that affected women's well‐being and their status and participation in the labour market. Accordingly, this paper examines the short‐run and the long‐run effects of the AS on female labour force participation (FLFP) rates in the MENA region. The empirical analysis is implemented through the generalized method of moments (GMM) system estimator for dynamic panel models, using the basic (one‐step) and the two‐step approaches over different empirical specifications. The benchmark empirical results show that the AS is associated with moderate average increases in FLFP rates in the MENA region. The empirical analysis subsequently emphasizes significant variations and distinct patterns in the AS effects on FLFP rates across MENA countries, and it ties these findings to the AS‐related economic, political and social circumstances in these countries.

Working Paper 2005-18 August 2005 Abstract: This paper determines that the weaker positive pull of education into the labor market and weaker labor market conditions are the observed factors that contributed the most to the decline in the labor force participation rate (LFPR) between 2000 and 2004 among women ages 25-54. As is typical, however, unobserved factors contributed more than any single or combination of observed factors. Furthermore, if the unemployment rate rebounded to its level in 2000, the LFPR would still be 1.4 percentage points lower than it was in 2000. JEL classification: J22, J11 Key words: female labor force participation, labor supply, labor force participation over the business cycle What's Up With the Decline in Female Labor Force Participation? I. Introduction and Background Since the late 1940s the percent of the male population participating in the labor force has been on a steady decline, while female labor force participation has been steadily increasing. Figure 1 illustrates these long-term trends. The decline in male labor force participation has been attributed to a variety of factors. The institution of Social Security in 1935; its expansion to include disability insurance and Medicaid; and the Revenue Act of 1942, which granted tax incentives for firms to establish private pension plans, have been found to have contributed significantly to the decline (for example, see Burtless and Moffitt 1984, Helmuth Cremer, et al. 2004, Gruber 2000, and Lumsdaine, et al. 1997). These policies provided both greater incentives to claim a work-inhibiting disability and to retire earlier from the labor market. Another explanation offered to explain the decline of male labor force participation among all age groups is the increase in female labor force participation. With labor supply decisions often made in a household (husband-wife) setting, the increase in family income from more wives working provides an income effect incentive for husbands to decrease their labor supply. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] The rise in female labor force participation has several explanations, as well. A major determinant of the increase in labor force participation are the biotechnological advancements that have provided women greater control over and timing of child bearing decisions since the 1940s (see Bailey 2004). This greater flexibility, along with advancements in household technologies (such as the introduction of the dishwasher and microwave oven) have afforded women greater freedom and time to increase their educational attainment, providing yet another reason to devote more time to the labor market (see Goldin 1995). Further, changing social attitudes about the role of women and the appropriateness of women (and wives) to work have increased the job opportunities and, thus, the incentives for women to enter the labor market (see Rindfuss et al. 1996). While the on-going decline in male labor force participation and the long-lived rise in female labor force participation have received much attention over the years, there has been a more recent change in the trend of labor force participation among women since 2000 that begs further scrutiny. Figure 2 plots the change in labor force participation rates between 2000 and 2004 for women across age categories. The figure shows that the decline in labor force participation has occurred across all age groups, except those 55 and older. While the 16-19 and 55+ age groups deserve their own analyses, this paper focuses on the change in labor force participation of those women who comprise the bulk of the female labor force, those 25-54 years of age. (1) These women made up 69% of the female labor force in 2004. [FIGURE 2 OMITTED] The importance of identifying the source of the unprecedented decline in female labor force participation lies in the value of knowing whether the decline is the beginning of a new trend or whether it is temporary and likely to reverse itself. …

This work investigated the impact of labour force participation on economic growth in Nigeria for the period 1990 to 2021 using annual time series data on real gross domestic product (RGDP), male labour force participation rate (MLFPR) and female labour force participation rate (FLFPR). The objectives are to examine the impact of male labour force participation rate (MLFPR) and female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) on economic growth in Nigeria and to ascertain the causality relationship between male labour force participation rate, female labour force participation rate, and economic growth in Nigeria using ARDL Bounds Testing methodology. The result indicated that male labour force participation rate (MLFPR) and female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) had statistically significant impact on economic growth in Nigeria in the short run. The result also revealed that, in the long run, male labour force participation rate (MLFPR) and female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) had statistically insignificant impact on economic growth in Nigeria. A uni-directional causality relationship is found between male labour force participation rate (MLFPR) and economic growth (RGDP) in Nigeria over the period covered with the causality running from economic growth to male labour force participation rate. The result further indicated that there is no significant causality relationship between female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) and economic growth in Nigeria over the period covered. The study therefore recommended that government should design active policy for male and female participation in labour force and seriously empower women to participate in labour force in Nigeria.