Patterns Of Labor Force Participation Research Articles

Disparities in Female Labour Force Participation in South Asia and Latin America: A Review

Abstract This article examines the pattern of female labour force participation since the 2000s in South Asia (SA) and the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) countries. The objectives of the paper are twofold: first, to identify the factors that have led to changes in the patterns of female labour force participation in the two fastest-growing regions of SA and LAC and compare the underlying reasons behind the disparate trends; and second, to explore the policies appropriate for the two regions that can raise female labour force participation. From descriptive statistics and a review of existing research on gender inequality in employment in the two regions, the paper finds that a plethora of factors shape the extent of gender inequality in labour force participation. However, each of the factors has different roles and importance in the two regions, debunking any particular relationship pattern between economic growth and the gender gap in labour force participation. Hence, it is imperative to formulate multipronged, country- and region-specific policies.

Gender and Work Patterns in Indian Cities: A Socio-Spatial Analysis

Using an original household survey conducted in Hyderabad and Mumbai that identifies intra-city spatial coordinates of residents, this study presents a socio-spatial analysis of gender and paid work. The results show that the ease of movement through the city, allocation of care work-related considerations and educational attainment are all crucial to understanding the labor force participation patterns of urban women in India. A gender lens identifies key facets of access and mobility characterizing urbanization in developing countries. Spatial heterogeneity of residence has very different outcomes for the labor force participation of women and men. HIGHLIGHTS Gender and city geographies mutually shape each other. Women’s labor force participation varies across and within Indian cities; men’s labor force participation is nearly uniform. Women’s paid work is higher in cities that have women-friendly transportation. Women’s paid work is higher in sub-city zones with superior transportation facilities for all. Policies that ease care or commuting burdens improve women’s participation in the labor force.

The Relationship between Gender Gap in Employment and Hofstede’s Culture Dimensions depending on Country Scores

Why is there a significant gender gap in the global labor force participation? Is there a way to reduce vulnerable employment? May cultural values explain the gender gap in employment and male-dominant work structure? This research examined the associations between Hofstede’s culture dimensions (including power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation) and gender gap in employment indicators (women’s and men’s labor force participation and vulnerable employment rates) after controlling the economy. Secondary data were obtained from Hofstede’s culture dimensions and World Bank databases. When the countries with missing data are excluded, remaining data of 60 countries make up the data set of the study. Two-step hierarchical regression analyses were performed, in which economic development was entered in the first step and study variables were included in the model in the second step. The main results indicated that after controlling economic development, women’s labor force participation rate was negatively related to country scores on uncertainty avoidance. In contrast, men’s labor force participation rate was negatively associated with country scores on power distance, individualism, and uncertainty avoidance. Besides, both women’s and men’s vulnerable employment rates were negatively related to country scores on individualism. The fact that more women and men participate in the labor force in countries with low power distance and uncertainty avoidance can be interpreted as women’s labor force participation creates new job opportunities that both women and men benefit from. The results may be useful for researchers who aim to see the current gender-based labor force participation patterns in different countries and understand the culture dynamics of economic gender gap. 

Women's labor force participation in insurgency and ethno-religious conflict: the cases of Aceh and Ambon

ABSTRACT This article explores changes in patterns of labor participation in two types of conflict settings in Indonesia: the insurgency in Aceh and the ethno-religious conflict in Ambon, Maluku. It brings into view interactions between gender on the one hand, and religion, age, social class, and ethnicity on the other, while also taking into consideration regional economies. I show how intersectional dynamics set in motion by different types of conflict create different patterns of labor force participation. Women increased their economic activity in both conflicts but became breadwinners only in a few specific contexts. Moreover, their increased economic activity was sometimes experienced as hardship and sometimes as empowerment. After the conflict, many women in Aceh returned to the domestic sphere in the name of Sharia law, whereas many in Ambon remained economically active. I argue that different types of conflict in different economic contexts and the associated differences in the relationships between gender, religion, age, social class, and ethnicity help to explain this variation in outcomes.

Employment and the gender digital divide in Latin America: A decomposition analysis

There is a vast literature that examines the determinants of the gender digital gap in developing countries, and puts forth policy recommendations to mitigate it. However, few studies examine how gender differences in labor force participation and employment patterns affect ICT adoption in general, or Internet use in particular. This matters because employment and the types of jobs that men and women do correlate with different opportunities to access the Internet and develop digital skills, both of which contribute to overall Internet engagement. This study contributes to fill this gap by exploring how gender differences in employment affect the digital gender gap in four Latin American countries. The findings point to differences in employment patterns between men and women as the largest single contributor to the gender gap in Internet use in these countries, ahead of differences in other predictors of Internet use such as income, age and education. Further, our results suggest that the correlation between employment and Internet use is stronger among women than men, which we attribute to the fact that women tend to work in more ICT-intensive sectors (e.g., health services and education). Estimates from a decomposition analysis suggest that if women were employed at the same rate as men the gender digital gap in these countries would be reduced by at least a quarter.

Female taxi drivers in Mexico City: Facing patriarchal structures as a force of oppression

AbstractAn increased need for safety has led to a demand in Mexican cities for female drivers for taxis and ride‐hailing services. However, little attention has been paid to female drivers' vulnerability to gender‐based violence and the challenges of working under patriarchal structures. This article draws on the empirical application of Walby's patriarchy framework (1990, 1997) to assess the interrelationship between patriarchal relations in households, paid work, and male violence, on the one hand, and the entry, working conditions, and survival strategies of female drivers in the Mexican taxi industry, on the other. The accounts of the dozen female drivers in Mexico City highlight key challenges faced by these women: Interaction with co‐workers, mistrust of their professional capabilities, sexual harassment, occupational hazards, and lack of political power in the taxi organizations. The findings show that the female drivers are heterogeneous in their working patterns and safety strategies, depending on their different social class and age. The article concludes with recommendations for the city government to provide an effective support scheme for female taxi drivers following an assessment of their demographics and labor force participation patterns.

Labor-force participation and working patterns among women and men who have survived cancer: A descriptive 9-year longitudinal cohort study.

Aims:Our aim was to investigate labor-force participation, working hours, job changes, and education over 9 years among persons who have survived more than 10 years after cancer, and compare it to controls.Methods:Register data on 2629 persons who survived cancer were stratified by gender and compared to data on 5258 matched controls. Persons who survived cancer were aged 30–50 when diagnosed with cancer and had a work contract prior to diagnosis. Descriptive analysis and t-tests were performed.Results:The proportion of female persons who survived cancer in the labor force was reduced from 100% to 83.9% during follow-up, demonstrating a significant difference compared to controls for each year measured. The proportion of male persons who survived cancer dropped from 100% to 84.8%, but was only significantly different compared to controls in 2 years. The proportion of female persons who had survived cancer who worked full-time was lower in all years compared to both controls and male persons who survived cancer; in turn, male persons who had survived cancer worked full-time less than male controls. The proportion of female persons who had survived cancer who worked less than 20 hours per week increased compared to controls. The frequency of change of employer was higher among female persons who survived cancer compared to controls for some years, but no significant differences between male persons who survived cancer and controls were found. Female persons who survived cancer were in education more often than male persons who survived cancer.Conclusions: Persons who survived cancer experienced reduced labor-force participation and working hours 9 years after diagnosis, and the reduction was more pronounced for women than for men. Working patterns were also different between genders and between persons who survived cancer and controls.

Impact of remittances on male and female labor force participation patterns in Africa: Quasi‐experimental evidence from Ghana

AbstractIn this paper, we examine how remittances, an outcome of labor mobility, affect labor market activities in Ghana using detailed household and individual‐level data. This is important, considering the extensive literature that has documented the remittance–poverty reduction nexus. First, we find a strong negative association between household remittance‐receiving status and individual labor supply decisions using instrumental variable estimation techniques. Second, we find the depressing effect of remittances on labor supply decisions to be much stronger in rural areas. Rural women who reside in remittance‐receiving households are less likely to be in the labor force compared with those who do not reside in such households. Remittances have very little impact on labor supply decisions in urban areas. Our findings support that remittances can exacerbate long‐term poverty reduction in rural areas through lower labor force participation, and as such rural‐based and gender‐based interventions may be needed to help redirect remittance income.

Assessing the Impact of Education and Marriage on Labor Market Exit Decisions of Women

Working Paper 2010-2 February 2010 Abstract: During the late 1990s, the convergence of women's labor force participation rates to men's rates came to a halt. This paper explores the degree to which the role of education and marriage in women's labor supply decisions also changed over this time period. Specifically, this paper investigates women's decisions to exit the labor market upon the birth of a child. The results indicate that changing exit behavior among married, educated women at this period in their lives was not likely the driving force behind the aggregate changes seen in labor force participation. Rather, changes in exit rates among single women, particularly those less educated, are much more consistent with the changing pattern of aggregate female labor force participation. JEL classification: J22, J11 Key words: labor force participation, labor supply, labor market exit, opt administrative data I. Introduction and Background In the late 1990s, the steady march of women's labor force participation rates towards convergence with those of men came to a halt. There is no consensus in the literature as to the source of this change in labor force patterns, although much of the attention has focused on the behavior of married and highly educated women, especially those with children (e.g., Cohany and Sok 2007). The analysis in this paper will focus on the role marriage and education play in women's decisions to exit the labor market at a time of major transition--the birth of a child--and how the importance of those factors changed during the 1990s. The relevance of investigating exit decisions arises from the attention some literature has given to the notion that women, particularly married and educated women, are opting out, meaning they were previously attached to the labor market and are increasingly choosing to exit (Boushey 2005 and Goldin 2006). Many have identified that the recent decline in labor force participation rates of women has been concentrated among highly educated women with young children (Goldin 2006, Bradbury and Katz 2005). Others have identified both characteristics and behavior (e.g., Reimers and Stone 2007 and Hotchkiss 2006), as well as strength of the labor market (Boushey 2005), as contributors to the observed decline in labor force participation. If the declining labor force participation rates among women can be tied to changes in behavior among married and educated women, one would expect to see those behavioral changes reflected in decisions made during a particularly transitional period in women's lives. The birth of a child has been found to have a profound impact on the decision of women to exit the labor market, even among very highly educated women (Herr and Wolfram 2009). Figure 1 shows the incidence of women exiting the workforce after giving birth, based on the data used in this analysis. The exit rate flattened in the late 1990s and then began increasing in 2000 (with a slight down tick in 2002, which is the last year of available birth data). This exit pattern is consistent with the flattening out and subsequent decline of the national labor force participation rates of women which began in the late 1990s, also shown in the figure. [Figure 1 here] The analysis in this paper covers the period 1994-2002, and combines vital statistics birth information with employment data in order to capture information on the immediate factors that affect decisions to exit the workforce at time of birth, including information on the mother and child's health, the characteristics of the mother's industry and firm, and the mother's employment history. We find that the impact of marriage and education on exit decisions did change through the 1990s, but not in a way that would be expected, given the focus on the behavior of married, educated women. As it turns the exit pattern depicted in Figure 1 was driven by changing behavior of single women, both high school and college educated. …

Teachers as good mothers, mothers as good teachers: Functional and ideological work–family alignment in the South Korean teaching profession

As one of the largest women‐dominated employment niches in many national contexts, the teaching profession has been widely studied, yet the gender, work and family negotiations within this profession deserve fuller attention. The case study of South Korean teachers, one of the most highly qualified teaching workforces in the world, illuminates how particular professions create specific challenges as well as supports for work and family that can counter national patterns of women's low labour force participation. This study engages with theoretical debates regarding ‘work–family conflict' and ‘work–life balance' to develop the alternative framework of ‘work–family alignment' giving greater attention to cultural, ideological and functional dimensions within specific occupations and national contexts. However, rather than expanding opportunities for women, work–family alignment often depends on conformity to normative gender roles — both at work and within families. Nonetheless, the framework of work–family alignment can inform policy implementation by demonstrating that both functional and ideological supports are needed for workplace and state policies to be effective.

Spatial Patterns of Female Labor Force Participation in Oman: A GIS-Based Modeling

In the past decade, the women's employment rate has increased in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states as a result of improved female educational attainment and the expansion of the local market economy. A significant gender gap in labor force participation (LFP) rates has emerged, however, compared to other countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The main aim of this article is to model the spatial variations of female LFP rates across the northeastern part of Oman. A geographically weighted regression (GWR) technique, within the geographic information system platform, is used to address how the relationships between Omani female LFP rates and a set of explanatory variables vary across Omani subnational boundaries. GWR is a powerful approach that can facilitate the identification of areas with lower or higher female LFP rates and help in better understanding the predictors that are associated with women's employment in specific locations. In so doing, this work attempts to fill the gap in the geographic literature regarding the modeling of local spatial patterns of female employment in developing countries. The results show that the female LFP rate is significantly associated with different spatial measures and particularly the geographic distribution of female education. Interestingly, the percentage of female jobs in the public sector is found to have a substantial negative effect on female LFP rates, especially in urban areas. This can be attributed to the propensity of Omani women to work in governmental jobs and reduce their participation in private and other business sectors. The findings of this research analysis not only offer a more nuanced examination of female LFP rate patterns but also provide empirical evidence in support of locally tailored policies pertaining to the female labor force, which might help in increasing women's participation trends in the local economy across local communities.

Trends in health and retirement in Latin America: Are older workers healthy enough to extend their working lives?

Abstract To counter the problems of demographic ageing, Latin American countries, like many nations elsewhere, are considering raising the retirement age in order to maintain fiscal balance and sustain economic prosperity. In doing so, however, they must take into account not only the simultaneous decline in older adults’ labour force participation but also poor health among those potentially affected by the change. In this paper, we use country comparable census data for 1970–2010 to analyse the labour force participation trends and health of male workers aged 50 years and over in Latin American countries. Our analysis focuses on two important health indicators: mortality risk and overall disease burden. We find that the greatly improved health conditions of recent years translate into lower labour force participation today than in the past, so that although contemporary male workers aged 55–59 have similar health statuses to their earlier counterparts aged 60–64, their patterns of labour force participation are very different. We therefore conclude that, overall, health does not present a barrier to raising the retirement age in Latin America, even in the longer term.

Gender Norms, Work-Family Policies, and Labor Force Participation among Immigrant and Native-born Women in Western Europe

Though women’s labor force participation has increased over recent decades, it remains lower than men’s in nearly every advanced democracy. Some groups of migrant and ethnic minority women have especially low rates of labor force participation, which is often attributed to cultures of origin that are less normatively supportive of women’s paid work outside the home. I argue in this paper that the gender norms women have been exposed to in their families and countries of origin interact with work-family policies to shape patterns of labor force participation. Cultural and familial norms about women’s employment outside the home are influential for women’s labor force participation in contexts of weak work-family policies. However, they cease to matter in determining women’s labor force participation in contexts of strong work-family policies.

Intra-metropolitan spatial patterns of female labor force participation and commute times in Tokyo

We explore intra-metropolitan spatial patterns of female labor force participation, and examine how they relate to commute times in Tokyo. The spatial patterns differ markedly by marital status and the presence of children. For married mothers, the spatial clusters of low participation and regular employment rates are largely located in the inner suburbs, many of which overlap with the spatial clusters of long male commute times. The spatial regression results indicate that for married mothers, a longer commute time is significantly associated with lower participation and regular employment rates, while for unmarried and childless married women, these associations are mostly nonsignificant. Among married mothers, the magnitude of the negative associations is greater for college graduates than for those with a high school education or less, suggesting that highly educated mothers are especially sensitive to commute times. We argue that the spatial transportation constraint intensifies the household division of labor, resulting in unique patterns for married mothers.

Mature age labour force participation and the life cycle deficit in Australia: 1981–82 to 2009–10

With inexorable population ageing, successive Australian governments have sought to implement policies, on both the production and consumption side, that place a greater onus on older citizens to be financially self-sufficient as a means of offsetting costs due to ageing. Over the previous 30 years, a time of considerable labour market growth and policy change, mature age labour force participation increased significantly in Australia. In this paper, we utilise the National Transfer Accounts methodology to examine the impact that the increases in mature age labour force participation have had on the Life Cycle Deficit – the difference between what age groups consume and what they produce through their own labour. We expected and found that the age entering the life cycle deficit is strongly influenced by changing patterns of mature age labour force participation. Both cross-sectional and cohort analyses show that over this 30 year time horizon, the ages at which the life cycle deficit moves from positive to negative territory and vice versa have gradually increased over time. The growth in mature age labour force participation since the turn of this century has led to large increases in mature age labour income, the most important effect of which appears to have been a substantial increase in private saving by mature age Australians. Implications of a recent slowing in mature age labour force participation in Australia are discussed.

The Widening Black‐White Wage Gap among Women

AbstractWe utilize over 30 years of the Current Population Survey to examine labor force participation and wage patterns among five cohorts of white and black women. By estimating wages using four selection correction techniques in determining the wage gap for women who are not in the labor force, we provide evidence of the changing role of selection among women over time. We find an increasing observed wage gap between white and black women for younger cohorts; however, the decline in selection for both black and white women does not explain the rising wage gap.

Retirement incentives and couple’s retirement decisions in Brazil

Abstract In this paper we investigate labor force participation and retirement patterns of couples in Brazil using data from the Brazilian Household Survey from 2003 to 2008. Brazil is an interesting case study because of its rapid population aging, large public pension system and early retirement trends. More specifically, we examine how social security incentives and personal characteristics affect one’s own and spouses’ labor force participation and retirement decisions. Our results suggest that couples synchronize retirement and that they respond similarly to their own characteristics. We also find that wives are more responsive to husbands’ incentives than vice versa. Based on the estimates, we simulate different rules to the pension system and their impacts on retirement trends. We observe that setting a minimum retirement age would increase the probability of both being in the labor force for longer periods of time. In addition, the results have important implications for public pension policy evaluation in Brazil and other developing countries.

Maternal labor force participation and differences by education in an urban birth cohort study - 1998-2010

Maternal labor force participation has increased dramatically over the last 40 years, yet surprisingly little is known about longitudinal patterns of maternal labor force participation in the years after a birth, or how these patterns vary by education. We document variation by maternal education in mothers' labor force participation (timing, intensity, non-standard work, multiple job-holding) over the first nine years after the birth of a child. We use the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N~3000) to predict longitudinal labor force participation in a recent longitudinal sample of mothers who gave birth in large US cities between 1998 and 2000. Families were followed until children were age 9, through 2010. Labor force participation gradually increases in the years after birth for mothers with high school or less education, whereas for mothers with some college or more, participation increases between ages 1 and 3 and then remains mostly stable thereafter. Mothers with less than high school education have the highest rates of unemployment (actively seeking work), which remain high compared with all other education groups, whose unemployment declines over time. Compared with all other education groups, mothers with some college have the highest rates of labor force participation, but also high rates of part-time employment, non-standard work, and multiple job-holding. Simple conceptualizations of labor force participation do not fully capture the dynamics of labor force attachment for mothers in terms of intensity, timing of entry, and type of work hours, as well as differences by maternal education.

Changing causes and consequences of labour force participation trends among the elderly in Sri Lanka

Population ageing in Sri Lanka is an inevitable outcome of a rapid demographic transition. This has occurred in a shorter time period in Sri Lan­ka than the developed countries. In traditional Sri Lankan society, younger generations were responsible for subsistence of the elderly while the elder­ly withdrew from the workforce. Increased life expectancy, modernization, migration, family transition, and retirement benefits, health condition of the elderly and inter and intra generational dependency influence changes in economic status among elderly and it can determining the wellbeing of the elderly in the latter part of their life cycle. Therefore, this paper focuses on examining the trends and patterns of the elderly labour force participation, causes and consequences. A Mixed methodological approach has been used, while quantitative data was drawn from the micro data of the Sri Lanka Labour Force Surveys of 2008 to 2012 and qualitative data collected from case studies. The main analysis is based on a total of 8006 males and fe­males aged 60 years and over. The results indicate that annual elderly labour force participation rates are about 26% and nearly 9% of them are elderly in the total labour force over the period. Sri Lanka Journal of Advanced Social Studies, 2013; Vol 3(2); Page 3-30

Pathways to Retirement in Australia: Evidence From the HILDA Survey

Using data from the first 8 waves of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, this article adds to existing knowledge of how pathways to retirement are decided. Two complementary estimation strategies are used to model the labor force transitions of mature age men and women. First, a standard multinomial logit model is used to determine the characteristics associated with specific patterns of labor force participation. Second, a dynamic mixed multinomial logit model is used to estimate labor market states in each year. Both approaches provide new evidence about coordinated retirement among mature age couples, not only in the timing of retirement but how the transition to retirement is made. The results also provide new evidence about the different effects of specific components of household wealth on how the transition to retirement is made. Controlling for unobserved heterogeneity in the dynamic multinomial model confirms the existence of true state dependence in the labor force states of mature age men and women. This implies that policies aimed at encouraging older workers to delay retirement will be more effective in boosting mature age participation than policies aimed at encouraging older workers back into the workforce after a period of nonparticipation.