Female Labor Force Participation Rate Research Articles

Beyond culture: source country female labour force participation and the earnings of immigrant women

Previous studies find a strong association between source country female labour force participation level and immigrant women’s labour market activity in the host country. This relationship is interpreted as the continued influence of source country gender role attitudes on women’s labour market behaviour. This article argues that the effect of source country female labour force participation rates extends beyond gender role attitudes by also contributing to labour market skills which help immigrant women navigate the host country labour market. When gender role attitudes are accounted for, source country female labour force participation rate is a strong predictor of immigrant women’s earnings in Canada. This is largely explained by differential occupational allocation in the host country.

Structural Reforms and Labour‐market Outcomes: International Panel‐data Evidence

AbstractThis paper explores the impact of structural reforms on a comprehensive set of macro‐level labour‐market outcomes, including the unemployment rate, the average wage index, and overall and female employment levels and labour force participation rates. Together, these outcome variables capture the overall health of the labour market and the aggregate welfare of workers. Yet, to our knowledge, there seems to be no other comprehensive empirical investigation in the existing literature of the impact of structural reforms at the cross‐country macro‐level on labour‐market outcomes other than the unemployment rate. After documenting the average trends across countries in the labour‐market outcomes up to 10 years on either side of each country's structural reform year, we run fixed‐effects ordinary least squares and instrumental variables regressions to account for the likely endogeneity of structural reforms to labour‐market outcomes. Overall, the results suggest that structural reforms lead to positive outcomes for labour. Redistributive effects in favour of workers, along the lines of the Stolper‐Samuelson effect, may be at work.

Female labour force participation, infant mortality and fertility in Malaysia

In reviewing the population policy in 1984, the Malaysian government called for a major shift from family planning to family and human resource development to achieve an ultimate population of 70 million by 2100. However, regardless of the government's initiatives since 1984, Malaysia's fertility rate still declined. This study examines the short-run and long-run relationship and causality between female labour force participation rate, infant mortality rate and fertility in a developing country in Asia – Malaysia. We employ the unit root test which allows for two structural breaks, and the break dates are then used as dummy variables in the bounds testing procedure within an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) modelling approach and Granger-causality test. The results indicate that mortality changes have a significant and positive long-run impact on fertility rate and women's child bearing decisions are unaffected by their employment situation. In addition, we do not find evidence that presence of children hinders re-employment and continuous female employment.

The State of the New Zealand Labour Market

This paper will review recent developments in the New Zealand labour market and trace the passage of these indicators through the global financial crisis to the outlook for the coming 3 years. The paper is based on the Ministry’s Quarterly Labour Market report and Short-term Employment Forecasts. The paper describes a strong labour market. Indicators of labour demand growth have moderated from the elevated levels recorded earlier in 2014, but remain solid. Construction is a significant source of employment demand across the entire country, and not just Canterbury. Migration-led population growth and near-record labour force participation rates are expanding labour supply. Women in general are showing increased involvement in the labour market: the female labour force participation rate returned to its record high of 63.7 per cent (equal to that recorded in March 2014), and the female employment rate (59.7 per cent) is at its highest rate since December 2008. Single mothers in particular have seen a sharp increase in their employment rate, which has reached its highest level since the series began in 1986. High participation is likely slowing the fall in the unemployment rate, which nevertheless hit its lowest level since March 2009. Wage growth remains subdued over the September quarter, but this comes against the backdrop of low inflation.

Female Labor Force Participation and Dependency Ratios in Border States

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.

Impact of Socioeconomic and Health System Factors on Infant Mortality Rate in Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC): Evidence from 2004 to 2013

Background: infant mortality rate is one of the main health indicators for assessing the health system’s performance over the world. We aim to examine the socioeconomic and health system factors affect infant mortality in OPEC from 2004 to 2013. Methods: was used to examine the effects of some of the key explanatory factors (total fertility rate per women, GDP per capita (current US$), public health expenditure as % of total health expenditure and female labor force participation rate) on infant mortality in OPEC from 2004 to 2013. These data were obtained from World Bank and World Health Organization data bank. Results: our results showed the total fertility rate had a positive and significant impact on infant mortality in the studied period. Also, there are negative significant associations between GDP per capita and public health expenditure with infant mortality. We did not observe any relationship between infant mortality and female labour force participation rate in the studied countries from 2004 to 2013. Conclusion: total fertility rate per women, GDP per capita (current US$), public health expenditure as % of total health expenditure were identified as the main factors affecting on infant mortality in OPEC over the ten years (2004-2013). This study enables health policy-makers to better understand the factors affecting on infant mortality and thereby take necessary steps in managing and decreasing the infant mortality rate in the studied countries.

The demographic dividend: challenges to employment and employability

The concept of demographic dividend is a major policy issue in India. In order to study the employment and employability scenario, we have taken the existing series forward to 2026 for both the population and labour force by age, sex and residence for all the states and Union Territories while using the latest data sets. The Indian discussion on the issue of demographic dividend has concentrated on the broad age group of 15–59 years. We also look at trends for the disaggregated age groups of 15–29, 30–44, and 45–59 years, as their paths differ considerably from those of the aggregate. Three major findings may be highlighted. Firstly, the surge in the working age population would comprise growing numbers of older workers, many of whom have missed out on education and training opportunities. A massive programme of adult education and training for older workers is needed. Secondly, there are wide regional variations in labour force growth patterns. This calls for the creation of a national labour market wherein regional shortages and surpluses are adjusted. Finally, the current low female participation rates conceal a potential demographic dividend, which can be reaped by adopting measures to expand the level of female education and labour force participation rates.

The Effect of Gender Equality on International Soccer Performance

In this paper, we propose a new estimation strategy that uses the variation in success between the male and the female national soccer team within a country to identify the causal impact of gender equality on women’s soccer performance. In particular, we analyze whether within-country variations in labor force participation rates and life expectancies between the genders, which serve as measures for the country’s gender equality, are able to explain differences in the international success of male and female national soccer teams. Our results reveal that differences in male and female labor force participation rates and life expectancies are able to explain the international soccer performance of female teams, but not that of male teams, suggesting that gender equality is an important driver of female sport success.

The Relationship between Inadequate Sanitation Facilities and the Economic Well-Being of Women in India

The present study attempts to ascertain the relationship between inadequate sanitation facilities and two key measures of the economic well-being of women in India: literacy rates and labor force participation rates. A two-stage regression model and correlation analysis are employed. All data is district-level for the year 2011. Results from a simple correlation analysis suggest that there is a positive correlation between latrine availability and female literacy rate but a negative correlation between latrines and the female labor force participation rate. Results from a twostage analysis, however, indicates that latrine availability is positively related to both female labor force participation and female literacy rates. These results suggest that the availability of latrines positively impacts the economic well-being of women. This is one of the first studies that examines the relationships between latrine availability and female labor force participation and literacy rates in India, and this is one of the few studies on this topic to use district-level data. Hence, these results are significant and suggest that the government of India should invest more in proper sanitation facilities for all of its citizens. These types of investments would greatly improve the economic lives of India’s women.

Effects of Female Education on Economic Growth: A Cross Country Empirical Study

AbstractThis study examines the extent to which women's education affects long-term economic growth in the Asia Pacific region. It focuses on the time period between 1990 and 2010, using data collected in randomly selected Asia Pacific countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. In addition, it emphasizes the impact of female education on economic growth as measured by GDP, literacy, fertility, and the female labor force. Using panel regression analysis, it is found that the fertility rate, female labor force participation rate and female primary school enrollment are significant factors for annual per capita income growth.Keywords: Female education * Economic growth * Asia Pacific region * Fertility rate * Female labor force participation rate * Panel data * Random effects model(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)More than half of the world's population lives in the Asia Pacific region. Many of them face extreme poverty, as close to half of them earn less than a dollar per day. This region has a high primary school enrollment ratio and literacy rates, despite the lack of gender equality in education. In addition, it is difficult to find labor participation rates for both women and men. With regard to education, the gender gap is very strong in the Asia Pacific region, particularly at the secondary or high school level. For example, courses such as nutrition, nursing, and teacher training are dominated by girls while boys would select engineering, law, agriculture, and technology courses. In the Philippines, for example, more than 90 percent of female students are enrolled in female-dominated courses.Poverty is analyzed through many factors including per capita income, distribution of assets and income, quality of government, its policies, and institutions related to education, health and other aspects of human development. The poor living in rural and urban areas face different issues. While the rural poor have limited access to education and health care, the urban poor depend on cash for survival as they are unable to grow their own food unlike their rural counterparts. It is also difficult for the urban poor to find good jobs due to the lack of higher education. This study explores the relationship between women's education and economic growth in the Asia Pacific region, which faces major problems in the level of economic development, school enrollment as well as gender discrimination in enrollment (Asia-Pacific Forum for Environment and Development [APFED], 2000). The Asia Pacific region is divided into five sub regions: South Asia, Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Pacific. From these sub regions, several countries have been selected for analysis in this study. These include Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Myanmar is the poorest among these countries as well as in the Southeast Asian sub region: 20% of Myanmar's citizens are below the national poverty line. Compared to other countries in the Asia Pacific region, Myanmar also has the highest infant mortality rate, and more than 20% of children from poor families do not attend school.Literature ReviewThere are two very basic reasons for examining a link between education and economic growth. First, at a general level, living standards have risen tremendously. Education is now necessary for people to benefit from scientific advancement as well as to contribute to it. Second, at a more specific level, a wide range of econometric studies indicates that the income levels that individuals can command depend on their level of education. If people who are educated earn more than those who are not, shouldn't the same be true of countries? The level of output per hour worked in a country, if not the rate of change of output per hour worked, ought to depend on the population's educational attainment. …

Regional Differences in Female Labor Force Participation in Japan

This paper investigates the determinants of Japanese regional differences in female labor force participation rates. There is little regional difference in the labor force participation rates of unmarried women. In contrast, for married females, regional disparities are noticeable. Japanese female labor force participation rates show an age-specific pattern, with a big fall in participation around childbearing ages of the thirties. However, this age-specific pattern is more pronounced in some regions than in others. This study examines the factors that affect labor force participation of married women of working ages 15–64, using regional panel data. From the empirical analysis, we learn that the proportion of nuclear families has a significant negative association with married female participation rates. We find a strong relationship between family status and the labor force participation rates of married women. These findings are of great relevance to the design of policies aimed at improving the balance between work and childcare for married women, especially in the urban areas where the proportion of married women living with parents is relatively low. This is because married women of nuclear families have greater difficulty allocating their time between paid work and household chores. Policies that would significantly increase Japan’s female labor force participation must focus on the married women of childraising ages specifically in urban areas.

SOCIOECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF INFANT MORTALITY IN IRANIAN CHILDREN: A LONGITUDINAL ECONOMETRICS ANALYSIS

MethodsUsing time series data of national level (1967 to 2012 years), we explored the association between total fertility rate, GDP per capita, number of physician per 1000 populations, female labor force participation rate, percentage of people living in rural regions and mean years schooling for each people with infant mortality rate of Iran. These data were obtained from Central Bank of Islamic Republic of Iran (CBI) data bank and Iranian statistical center. Time series analysis was done for this purpose. ResultsThis study showed that there are positive relationships between total fertility rate , percentage of people living in rural regions with mortality rate of infant. In addition, IMR had inverse relationships with number of physicians and mean years of schooling. The per capita GDP and female labor force participation rate had not significant correlation with IMR. ConclusionMany predictors of infant mortality were identified. The total fertility rate, number of physician per 1000 populations, percentage of people living in rural regions and mean years schooling of each people were strongly associated with infant mortality. These findings may be very useful for policy makers that how death of infant can be decreased.

Workforce Development in the United States: Facilitating Opportunities to Work at Older Ages

The aging of the U.S. baby boomer cohort, born between 1946 and 1964, has had a dramatic impact on the aging of the labor force. Of the projected labor force in 2022, workers age 55 and above will comprise 25.6%, a considerable increase compared to the 11.8% they represented in 1992. Over the past several decades, labor force participation rates (LFPRs) have increased for both the 55–64 and 65–74 age groups. Increases in the female LFPRs have been especially dramatic, projected to increase from 46.5% in 1992 to 64.3% in 2022 for the 55–64 age group and from 12.5% to 28.3% for women age 65–74 ( Toossi, 2013 ). These are by far the highest LFPRs of older women since 1947, when the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) began tracking such data. Shifts in the age structure of the U.S. labor force, combined with the increased LFPRs among older adults, require policies and programs that encourage and support employment at older ages. An increasingly international, technological, and knowledge-based economy mandates continuous learning over the life course to effectively compete in the global economy ( Keeley, 2007 ). Older workers are less likely than younger workers to participate in employer-sponsored training programs ( Eyster, Johnson, & Toder, 2008 ), but the potential benefits for them may be greater since they face multiple workforce challenges including ageism and obsolete job skills. Unemployment and displacement rates of older workers in the lowest income quintile have consistently been 3–4 times greater than the rates for all workers age 55+ ( Sum, Khatiwada, & Trubsky, 2011 ). Older job seekers have disproportionately higher rates of long-term unemployment (>27 weeks), which in turn reduces likelihood of re-employment ( Rix, 2015 ).

Female Labor Force Participation in Iran: A Structural Analysis

AbstractLow female labor force participation (FLFP) rate in Iran, at the time that women’s education has been rising and their fertility rates have been falling, has remained a puzzle. By estimating elasticities of participation and hours with respect to wages (the extensive and intensive margins), this paper tries to shed some light on this puzzle. Using a structural estimation and controlling for selection, it depicts that the elasticity of women’s participation in the labor force with respect to wages is quite large, especially for married women. Based on this, one may argue that women’s participation is very sensitive to wages. But this is not consistent with the stylized facts about FLFP in Iran. The plausible implication of such elasticities, however, is that non-participating women have potential wages close to the wages of those who participate. Therefore, lower potential wages cannot be the factor that strongly dissuades women from participation. Instead, anticipated factors, such as labor market institutions and preferences, could be the underlying force hindering women from participation. The low FLFP rate can be explained better in light of these findings. The implications for policy and research are discussed.

Can Child Care Vouchers Get Turkish Mothers Back to Work? Estimating the Employment and Redistributionary Impact of a Demand Side Child Care Subsidy in Turkey

Lack of access to affordable and quality child care is one of the impediments to increasing female labor force participation rates in Turkey. With less than one third of working age women active in the labor market, the Turkish government has been considering options for expanding female labor force participation by providing a demand side subsidy conditional on employment (or activation). To achieve this, utilization of child care is being considered as a policy option. This paper considers the labor supply impact and cost effectiveness of such a demand side subsidy by evaluating the labor supply model of women in Turkey under the current conditions and simulates -- under various targeting scenarios and for different benefit levels of the subsidy -- (i) the number of women that would join the labor force or become formally employed; (ii) the budgetary implications and cost effectiveness of the subsidy; and (iii) the potential benefits accrued by the bottom quintiles of society. Given the constrained supply of existing services, the paper finds that the immediate employment impact of such a demand side intervention is likely to be low, and the distribution regressive in the short term. A targeted subsidy based on welfare level and employability of the woman is likely to be most cost effective in the medium term when supply side constraints on child care are addressed and concurrent policies to expand the supply of child care have been implemented. In the short term, when the subsidy is provided conditional on child care utilization (and there is no targeting of the poor) the benefits are likely to be highly regressive, with only 3 percent of benefits accruing to the bottom quintile of the population. The formal employment impact of the program is also estimated to be low: we find that in the short term the number of women activated through the program would range from 2,800 to 43,000 women (entering formal employment) at a cost varying from 1.4 million TL to 37 million TL per month (not including administrative costs of running the program) if the benefits are fixed at 50 % of the net minimum wage. In the medium term, when the supply of ECEC is assumed to be more flexible and supply of services is not a constraint, the demand side transfer is expected to activate into the formal sector an upper bound estimate of 187,600 women, constituting a less than 1 percentage point change in female labor force participation -- at a cost of about 138 million TL per month.

The Economic Lifecycle by Gender – Results Combining Monetary and Time Use Estimates

In recent decades, we have witnessed profound changes in family size and structure. While marriage rates and the number of children have declined in most industrialised countries, female labour force participation rates have risen significantly. However, while the working hours and wages of women have increased, we continue to observe huge discrepancies in market production by gender in Germany. This results in considerable differences in the economic lifecycle of men and women. The differences diminish if we take unpaid household production, consumption, and caring into account. We find that, after applying this comprehensive approach, the female lifecycle resembles male consumption, income, and transfer patterns. These findings are interesting in the light of future demographic changes, as they suggest that the explicit policy aim of increasing female labour force participation could place constraints on the currently observed division of labour in the market and in the household.

An exploratory empirical note on the impact of labour market freedom on the female labour force participation rate in the US

The purpose of this exploratory empirical note is to provide at least preliminary insight into whether a greater degree of labour market freedom (LABMKTFREE) elicits an increase in the female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) in the US. Initial empirical support for this hypothesis is provided in this study since the estimated coefficient on the LABMKTFREE index is positive and statistically significant at the 5% level. This result implies that, other things held the same, the higher the LABMKTFREE index, the greater the FLFPR. Indeed, the findings imply that a 1% increase in the LABMKTFREE index would lead to a 0.294% increase in the FLFPR.

Trade liberalization, industry concentration and female workers: the case of Egypt

Abstract The gender wage gap increased significantly in Egypt over the last two decades, while female labor force participation rates have steadily declined. This study investigates the relationship between women’s labor market outcomes in the manufacturing sector, the degree of industry concentration, and the trade reforms that took place simultaneously. Results indicate that industry concentration is detrimental to women in the labor market and that the impact of trade liberalization differs depending on the degree of concentration and the nature of the international competition. In initially competitive industries, increased import competition is associated with higher gender wage gaps and lower female employment. Increased export intensity on the other hand is associated with a lower gender wage gap, but lower female employment. Conversely, opening up to increased international import competition in initially concentrated industries is associated with falling gender wage gaps and rising female employment, while increased exports in these industries is associated with higher female employment as well. These findings have important implications for policy makers attempting to create more equitable labor market conditions in post-revolutionary Egypt. JEL classifications F1, F6, J7, J3

Gender Attitudes in the World of Work: Cross-Cultural Comparison

This paper deals with factors determining work-related gender attitudes. With the spread of emancipative values the difference between gender roles is becoming more vague but is still strongly dependent upon country characteristics. While gender attitudes are usually regarded as factors impacting socio-economic behavior, my research underlines a less explored aspect: they are themselves formed and changed in the process of economic interactions. The objective is to assess the role of job characteristics among factors determining gender attitudes in different types of countries. More specifically, we focus on the interaction effect between education and employment characteristics on a micro- and macro-level. Female labor force participation rate and ratio of female to male tertiary enrollment are used as the indicators of female involvement in labor market activities. The 5th wave of World Values Survey (2005-2008) serves as the empirical base. The targeted group of the population is the employed. Multilevel regression modeling is used. According to the results, work-related gender attitudes vary considerably by country. The higher occupational status as well as more intellectual, creative and independent jobs lead to more egalitarian gender attitudes. Self-employed and part-time workers have more traditional gender attitudes. On the country-level, the higher the ratio of female to male tertiary enrollment is, the more egalitarian work-related gender attitudes in the country. Contrary to the initial hypothesis, labor force participation rate itself does not have a significant impact. In countries with more involvement of women in education and labor market activities, education and job characteristics impact gender attitudes to a lesser extent. Furthermore, there is less difference in female and male gender attitudes in such countries.

Suicide and the Great Recession of 2007–2009: The role of economic factors in the 50 U.S. states

After several decades of decline, U.S. suicide rates have risen since 2005, a trend driven largely by increases among those aged 45–64 that began in 1999. A prominent explanation for this pattern relates to deteriorating economic conditions, especially the sharp rise in unemployment associated with the Great Recession of 2007–2009. We pool data from 1997 to 2010 on the 50 U.S. states to examine the role of economic factors in producing the recent rise in suicide rates. Unlike prior studies, we examine trends in the total suicide rate and in the rate disaggregated by sex, age group and time period and include a number of important confounding factors in a multivariate analysis. We find a strong positive association between unemployment rates and total suicide rates over time within states. The association appears stronger in states that had higher female labor force participation rates over the period, suggesting that the Great Recession may generate greater levels of anomie in this context. Once we consider contextual factors such as female labor force participation, we find that rising unemployment had a similar adverse effect on male and female suicide rates. A positive effect of unemployment on temporal variation in middle-aged suicide exists but not for other age groups. Other economic characteristics, such as percent of manufacturing jobs and per capita income, are not associated with temporal variation in suicide rates within states but are associated with variation between states in suicide rates. The findings suggest that the following may be important components of effective prevention strategies: 1) specifically targeting employers and workplaces as important stakeholders in the prevention of suicide, 2) disseminating information about health risks tied to un/employment, and 3) linking the unemployed to mental health resources.