Female Employment Opportunities Research Articles

Sweet unbinding: Sugarcane cultivation and the demise of foot-binding

We analyze the economic motives for the sudden demise in foot-binding, a self-harming custom widely practiced by Chinese females for centuries. We use newly-discovered Taiwanese data to estimate the extent to which females unbound their feet in response to the rapid growth in sugarcane cultivation in the early 20th century, growth which significantly boosted the demand for female labor. We find that cane cultivation significantly induced unbinding, with the IV estimations utilizing cane railroads – lines built exclusively for cane transportation – support a causal interpretation of the estimated effect. This finding implies that increased female employment opportunities can help eliminate norms that are harmful for females. Further analysis suggests that the need for human capital improvement was more likely to have driven the effects of cane cultivation, rather than the increased intra-household bargaining power for females.

Why Bother? The Effect of Declining Marriage Market Prospects on Labor-Force Participation by Young Men

Why have so many young men left the U.S. workforce? This paper develops a model in which men earn a marriage market return on past employment. It hypothesizes that this return declined as gender-role-specialized marriage became a less efficient arrangement. It establishes causal evidence for this hypothesis by identifying two shocks that lowered the returns to gender role specialization: growth in female employment opportunities across U.S. commuting zones from 1980-2016, and unilateral divorce regime transitions across U.S. states in the 1970s. These shocks reduce marriage and labor-force participation (LFP) among young men without college and can account for 1/4 of their long-run LFP decline. Policy implications of these results are discussed.

How trade diversification and economic growth affect gender inequality in female labour market participation? The case of India

PurposeThis paper attempts to investigate through empirical exercise how the chances of female employment opportunities rise in a developing country like India, against the backdrop of changes in institutions that are associated with globalization.Design/methodology/approachThe paper develops a simultaneous equation model through a growth equation, gender equation and globalization equation to identify the factors impacting female labor market opportunities in India, based on annual time series data 1991–2019.FindingsThe major results of this study are as follows: (1) It is social globalization that positively impacts gender equality in employment opportunities apart from economic growth and trade diversification; (2) Evidence of “feminization of labor force” in the context of trade diversification is found; and (3) Equal gender opportunities reflect in equalizing outcomes in the labor market.Practical implicationsGrowth strategies need to be constructed in such a way in India that it has redistributive implications and benefits women. The state agency needs to optimize the productive base of human resources and increase women's empowering capability through social and legal sanctions.Originality/valueThe uniqueness of the present paper lies in contributing to the existing literature on how gender inequality impacts trade diversification and how trade diversification impacts gender.

Determinants of Household Savings: An Empirical Evidence from the OECD Member Countries

Using the data from the 36 OECD member countries over a time period of 1970-2017, we study variations in household saving rate across the countries through the lens of the socio-economic and -demographic shifts over time. In addition to traditional determinants of household saving such as life expectancy, education, average number of children born per woman over a lifetime, and household debts, we examined changes in the socio-economic and -demographic conditions that are conducive to the human capital value of female labor force and thus female employment opportunities. We have identified that the narrower is the gap between genders in higher education attainment and employment, the higher is the household saving rate. Our empirical findings also suggest that both giving childbirth at an old age and preferential income tax rates for households with children are negatively affecting the household saving rate.

The emergence of physiotherapy in Germany from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries: A “female profession” concerned with movement in the health care arena

ABSTRACT Background: The history of physiotherapy in Germany dates back to the mid-nineteenth century, when German physicians discovered Swedish medical gymnastics as a therapeutic treatment modality. From the early 20th century onwards, physiotherapy slowly began to establish itself as a field of activity specifically for women of the middle classes who provided assistive services to medical doctors.Method: Extensive overview of published and unpublished research on the history of German physiotherapy as well as select primary sources from the 19th and 20th centuries. Additionally reference is made to historical research regarding the emergence of the physical culture and life reform movements, as well as on gender research regarding upper and middle class female employment opportunities in the social and health care sector.Findings: This study outlines the two leitmotifs of physiotherapy’s incorporation into the medical sector (i.e. medicalisation) and its (self-)image as a “female profession” (i.e. feminisation) as two intertwined historical phenomena shaping the critical period when physiotherapy assumed its role as a health profession in Germany. These developments from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries resulted in the emergence of a “female profession” with a distinct focus on the role of movement as a treatment modality.Discussion: Critical engagement with a handed down professional self-image is needed. On the basis of my historiographical overview, I suggest a future research agenda which would result in a more appropriate understanding of early physiotherapists in Germany as historical agents.

Still the “Ireland of Asia”? Declining Female Age at Marriage in Sri Lanka

Unlike the rest of South Asia, female age at marriage in Sri Lanka reached a high level of 25.5 years by 1993 and declined thereafter to 23.6 years as reported by the 2006-2007 Demographic and Health Survey. This article examines this trend and potential contributors to the trend by using data from Population Censuses and Demographic and Health Surveys. The relaxation of the marriage squeeze with the more balanced sex ratio at the turn of the present century and decline in male unemployment from mass labor migration are some factors contributing to decline in female marriage age. Increased female employment opportunities allow more young girls to accumulate money for dowry and other marriage expenses at younger ages than their older cohorts could and further contributions come from remittances from labor migrants. Changing attitudes to late marriage and government curbs on abortion services too may have contributed to the decline in female marriage age.

Breastfeeding and infant and child mortality, in Amagoro Division of Busia District, Kenya

This study examined the impact of breastfeeding duration and age at supplementation on infant and child mortality. Data was collected for both open and closed intervals from women aged 15-49 years and resident in Amagoro Division, Busia District, western Kenya. The study found that breastfeeding initiation is quite high, with an average of 99% of the women initiating breastfeeding. The duration of breastfeeding is long, with the majority of the women breastfeeding for 19-24 months. The major problem noted in the study is early supplementation. By the age of 3-4 months about 70% of children in the open and closed intervals were already being fed on other diets in addition to breast milk. The study also found that, for both the open and closed intervals, breastfeeding duration, age at supplementation, work status of the mother, type of toilet facility used by the household, and immunizations received by the child were significant in child survival. The major conclusion derived from the results of the study is that breastfeeding practices, environmental factors, and socio-economic factors are very significant in influencing infant and child deaths. However, the impact of breastfeeding and age at supplementation are greatly modified by environmental and socio-economic factors. The study therefore recommends the re-education of health personnel, especially those in the Maternal and Child Health clinics (MCH), on the importance of breastfeeding and proper age at supplementation for the children. The paper also recommends that female employment opportunities and female education be increased, since maternal education highly determines the work status of the mother and the nutritional, health care and sanitary conditions of the household.

Neopatriarchy, Islam and female labour force participation: A reconsideration

This article reconsiders the cross‐national determinants of female labour force participation in Islamic settings. It explores a neopatriarchal perspective using in dicators of the role of the government and the political role of women. The study shows that government plays a significant role in determining female employment. Islamic ideology as a cultural variable also contributes significantly to the model. Thus, the results indicate that Islamic ideology per se is not the only factor determining female labour force participation; the political atmosphere and economic development also contribute. In main stream sociology, Muslim countries have usually been classified as outliers on gender relations and demographic factors. These countries generally have lower‐than‐average levels of female labour force participation (FLFP) and higher‐than‐average levels of fertility and mortality relative to non‐Muslim nations at the same level of economic development (Weeks, 1988). For example, in 1995, female employment in Islamic countries was 21.7% while other Muslim and non‐Muslim developing countries, it was 38.1% (World Bank World Tables, 1999). The popular press and much of the academic literature interpret Islam as the “secluder” and “excluder” of women which, in turn, inhibits women’s integration into the formal labour force. What is missing from the analysis is the role of the state in those societies as the main employer and investor. In many Islamic societies, the patriarchal system has never been weakened but rather modernised into a system referred to in this study as the neopatriachal state (Moghadam, 1992; Sharabi, 1988). Neopatriarchy will be defined in this article as traditional patriarchy, especially embedded in religion, which gets appropriated by the state to reinforce its rule. In the following section the meaning of each of these factors and how they affect female employment opportunities is explored.

A National Study of Gender-Based Occupational Segregation in Municipal Bureaucracies: Persistence of Glass Walls?

Affirmative action policies and voluntary hiring decisions have increased the presence of women at all levels of government (Eribes, et al., 1989; Kelly, et al., 1991; Bullard and Wright, 1993; Stivers, 1993; Crum and Naff, 1997). Still, strong evidence exists that women continue to find it difficult to break into male-dominated fields despite nearly three decades of affirmative action policies (Leonard, 1989; Lewis and Nice, 1994; Newman, 1994; Tomoskavic-Devey, Kalleberg, and Cook, 1996). A preponderance of studies in the literature on the employment distribution of women and men and the integration of women into governmental managerial ranks provide evidence that women face both glass walls and glass ceilings at the federal and state levels (Lewis and Emmert, 1986; Pfeffer and Davis-Blake, 1987; Baron and Newman, 1989; Kellough, 1990; Bullard and Wright, 1993; Guy, 1993; Cornwell and Kellough, 1994; Lewis and Nice, 1994; Naff, 1994; Newman, 1994; Ruccucci and Saidel, 1997). Though some discussion of ceiling issues is necessary to provide a context for our analysis, this article will primarily concern itself with the wall phenomenon. The glass wall metaphor describes occupational segregation attributed to employment barriers that restrict the access of women to certain types of jobs (or agencies) or that trap them within certain types of jobs (or agencies). Glass walls are likely to persist when: (1) organizational cultures create impediments to change; and/or (2) skills necessary to perform jobs in a given agency are not highly valued elsewhere. The potential for female employment opportunities at the municipal level is considerable. Not only is there a large number of jobs in city governments, but many jobs are close to home and educational opportunities. Even when these employment opportunities contribute to the hiring of large numbers of women by municipal governments, the advancement of women into the more prestigious municipal policymaking positions is a different matter (Slack, 1987; Ballard and Lawn-Day, 1992). Although employment opportunities for women are more numerous at the local level than either the state or federal level, systematic or large-scale studies at this level of government have been scarce. The lack of access to comparative data on cities has resulted in a dearth of empirical studies on gender-based occupational segregation and salary disparities at the municipal level. Greater attention needs to be devoted to evaluating the extent and nature of glass walls in municipal governments (Radin, 1980; Rinehart, 1991). Research which tends to focus on what Frederickson (1990) calls block equality paints the most optimistic picture of female or minority employment patterns (Furchtgott-Roth and Stolba, 1996). The findings in this body of research are derived using highly aggregated data. Aggregation can obscure the fact that females are underrepresented in the best paying or most influential positions in an agency and can hide gender segregation that may exist among government agencies. Segmented equality shifts the focus of analysis to gender representation in various types of jobs (or at different organizational levels) and within functional (or policy) areas in municipal governments (Frederickson, 1990). This latter approach is more likely to identify gender-based differences in employment and salary patterns. We use the latter approach, segmented equality/inequality, to study municipal employment. We examine gender distributions in administrative and professional jobs.(1) Administrative and professional positions are the most desirable ones in city governments; they confer status and authority, are relatively well-paying, and in many cases, allow bureaucrats to significantly influence policymaking and its implementation. We also examine gender-based employment patterns in discrete functional policy areas or tasks within municipal bureaucracies to determine if policy outputs are associated with the extent and nature of glass walls. …

Maternal labour supply and child nutrition in West Africa.

It is widely recognized that women in developing countries have dual roles as generators of household income and as primary caregivers to their children. Many policies directed at reducing poverty or malnutrition involve one or the other of these roles. Programs to reduce child malnutrition, for example, typically target mothers as caregivers. However, because of the time constraints women face, there are potential conflicts between women's different activities about which policy makers are rarely informed. Nutrition interventions have not usually considered the barriers to participation in such programs facing mothers who, either by choice or necessity, have entered the labour force (Leslie, 1988; Engle, 1994). Similarly, policies directed at improving female employment opportunities typically ignore women's important role in household activities related to children's healthy development. In this paper we address a potentially important implication of women's multiple roles and the time constraints they face: that female labour force participation, by reducing the time available for household activities related to child development, may place young children at nutritional risk.

Protective Legislation and Women's Labour Market Participation

Sex-specific protective labour laws are considered unacceptable by many analysts because it is presumed that they necessarily adversely affect labour market oppor tunities for women. This paper reviews United States research that has sought to assess the validity of this assumption and reports on the impact of these laws within Australia. It is shown that the assumption that sex-specific labour laws have a detrimental influence on female employment opportunities is not supported by United States research or Australian data. It is concluded that a reform strategy based on the assumption that these laws necessarily discriminate against women may involve loss of employee protection without necessarily producing any compen sating increase in employment opportunities for women. 1

Safe Motherhood Initiative: getting our priorities straight

Developing countries, nongovernmental organizations, and the international development community support the Safe Motherhood Initiative. These partners know why they need to take action to assure safe motherhood, but do not agree on how to make motherhood safe. The dominant view is that the 1st priority is to provide and/or improve needed obstetric care at the 1st referral level and manage complications once they occur. It is based on the fact that the medical community cannot yet identify most women with pregnancy complications in time to prevent their occurrence. 2 safe motherhood advocates challenge this view. They point out that it only centers on reducing maternal mortality. 2nd they believe that prenatal care and health education do play a strategic role in making motherhood safe because they can inform, motivate, and empower women to use formal emergency care services. 3rd health workers should not dismiss prenatal care since some interventions are indeed effective, e.g., prevention, detection, and investigation of anemia and hypertensive disease of pregnancy and prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. Finally some areas in developing countries do not have the resources to establish or upgrade referral level health facilities so they must maximize existing resources to intervene and treat complications such as training midwives, nurses, and traditional birth attendants. The advocates propose 3 tired strategies to bring about safe motherhood. The provision of prenatal care, trained attendance at delivery, accessible emergency services, and family planning and abortion services comprise the 1st tier. The 2nd tier of activities targets youth. These activities include sexual and reproductive health programs, education, female employment opportunities, and legislation on age of marriage. The 3rd tier embraces all factors that influence women's health and status: sexual and reproductive health, education, income, social and cultural practices, and laws that govern women and their social position.

Emigrant Gentlewomen: Genteel Poverty and Female Emigration, 1830-1914

First published in 1979. This book examines the distressed gentlewoman stereotype, primarily through a study of the experience of emigration among single middle-class women between 1830 and 1914. Based largely on a study of government and philanthropic emigration projects, it argues that the image of the downtrodden resident governess does inadequate justice to Victorian middle-class women’s responses to the experience of economic and social decline and to insufficient female employment opportunities. This title will be of interest to students of history.

The influence of women’s work opportunities on marriage rates

Several authors have argued that increased work opportunities for women have helped to produce a reduction in the average age at marriage in the United States. This paper tests this proposition on data for the 100 largest SMSA's in 1960. Using ordinary least-squares regression, we find that areas of relatively attractive female employment opportunities had relatively low proportions of women ever married in the age interval 22-24. Other variables significantly related to the proportion married in an SMSA are its sex ratio, percent Catholic, and number of inhabitants. A decline in the sex ratio and improvements in female employment opportunities appear to have been equally influential in producing declines in proportions married between 1960 and 1970.