Women's Labour Market Participation Research Articles

Work-family conflict, self-reported general health and work-family reconciliation policies in Europe: Results from the European Working Conditions Survey 2015.

The increasing labor market participation of women in Europe leads to many women and men having to reconcile paid work with family work and thus reporting work-family conflict (WFC). WFC is related to different dimensions of health. In the present article, we analyzed the role different reconciliation policies among European countries may play regarding WFC and its association with self-reported health.The analyses are based on data from Eurofound's European Working Conditions Survey 2015. The working populations from 23 European countries aged between 18 and 59 with at least one child up to 18 years of age are included (n = 10,273). Weighted logistic regression was applied to estimate the association between WFC and self-reported general health (SRH). Using multilevel models, country-level variations in the association of individual-level WFC and health were calculated. In a second step, the effect of country-level reconciliation policies on WFC was examined (adjusted for age, sociodemographic and occupational characteristics).The odds ratio for moderate to very poor SRH is 2.5 (95% CI: 1.92–3.34) for mothers with high WFC compared to mothers with low WFC. For fathers with high WFC, the adjusted odds ratio is also 2.5 (95% CI: 1.80–3.37). Between countries, the association between WFC and health is similar. Country-level parental leave policies, the use of formal childcare and mothers’ labor market participation are associated with reduced WFC in Europe.In conclusion, the results reveal a strong association between WFC and SRH in Europe. The multilevel analyses show that certain reconciliation policies have an impact on the prevalence of WFC, with different results for mothers and fathers. Mothers in particular can be supported by sufficient maternal leave and formal care for children. These are tangible policy approaches for reducing WFC and may thus improve health in Europe.

Socioeconomic Differentials in Employment Status and Involvement in Household Decision-Making Among Ever-Married Women in Nigeria.

Prior studies have assessed economic/instrumental dimensions of women's empowerment relative to its agency dimensions. This study assessed ever-married women's participation in the labor market as a form of agency for empowerment and household decision-making in Nigeria. The study utilizes secondary data from three national surveys of Nigeria's 2003, 2008, and 2013 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) to assess the differences and relationship between indices and the status of women's labor market participation and their empowerment or household decision-making over an 11-year period. Explanatory variables adopted were age group, religion, employment status, educational level, household wealth index, and region. Binomial logistic regression was used to predict the proxy variables of women's empowerment from the explanatory variables. Findings showed that women's access to paid employment, educational status, and the household wealth index improved their participation in household decision-making. However, the single factor that consistently increased the likelihood of an ever-married woman to be involved in all forms of household decision-making from 2008 to 2013 was household wealth. Also, religion affected the ability of ever-married women to participate in household decision-making. The ability of Muslim women to participate in all forms of decision-making decreased from 2008 to 2013. The study concluded that the factors that enhance household wealth will enhance married women's ability to be involved in household decision-making. Education of women is, however, a significant contribution to enhancing the balance of inequity between men and women in household decision-making. The attenuating effect of Islam on this prospect needs further investigation and interventions for married women living in Northern Nigeria.

Structural Unemployment in Luxembourg: Bad Luck or Rational Choice?

This paper combines both micro and macro approaches to identify the drivers of (un)employment and inactivity in Luxembourg. The young, low-skilled, and non-EU migrants are found to be the most vulnerable groups in the labor market. In addition to skills mismatches, work disincentives embedded in the tax-benefit system constitute a factor explaining structural unemployment. High unemployment of young and low-skilled workers reflects substantial unemployment traps, while disincentives for second earners (respectively the generosity of the pension system) contribute to lower labor market participation of women (respectively seniors). Further reduction of structural unemployment requires better integration of vulnerable groups into the labor market and improved targeting of benefits to make work more rewarding.

A theoretical and empirical review of Korean married women's labor market participation : Class difference and its policy implication

A theoretical and empirical review of Korean married women's labor market participation : Class difference and its policy implication

Gender Ideology and Women's Labor Market Transitions Within Couples in the Netherlands

ObjectiveThis study examines the role of women's and their partners' gender ideology in shaping women's labor market entries, exits, and changes in hours of employment.BackgroundRecent research argues that women's gender ideology is crucial for understanding women's contemporary labor market participation. However, the role of male partners' gender ideology for partnered women's labor market participation has received less attention.MethodThe analysis uses three waves of a large‐scale household panel survey based on a random sample of individuals within Dutch households. Random‐effect models are applied to study whether women's and their partners' gender ideology are associated with women's labor market transitions and whether relevant household characteristics' associations with women's labor market transitions are conditional on both partners' gender ideology.ResultsWomen's gender ideology is associated with the probability of women's labor market entries and exits, but not with changes in women's hours worked, whereas their male partners' ideology is related only to the probability of women's labor market exits. Furthermore, the negative association of having children with changes in women's hours worked is stronger for traditional compared to egalitarian women. There is no clear evidence that gender ideology moderates the association of the male partner's labor market resources with women's labor market transitions.ConclusionWomen's labor market transitions are not only reactions to economic pressure and institutional constraints but also women's and marginally their partners' gender attitudes.

The family working-time model: Towards more gender equality in work and care

Since the millennium, the labour market participation of women and mothers is increasing across European countries. Several work/care policy measures underlie this evolution. At the same time, the labour market behaviour of fathers, as well as their involvement in care work, is relatively unchanging, meaning that employed mothers are facing an increased burden with respect to gainful employment and providing care. We propose a family working-time model that incentivizes fathers and mothers to both work in extended part-time employment. It provides a benefit in the form of a lump-sum transfer or income replacement for each parent if, and only if, both parents work 30 hours/week. Thus, it explicitly addresses fathers and – contrary to most conventional family policies – actively promotes the dual earner/dual carer paradigm. Combining microsimulation and labour supply estimation, we empirically analyse the potential of the family working-time model in the German context. The relatively small share of families already choosing the symmetric distribution of about 30 working hours would increase by 60 percent. By showing that a lump-sum transfer especially benefits low-income families, we contribute to the debate about redistributive implications of family policies. The basic principles of the model generalize to other European countries where families increasingly desire an equal distribution of employment and care. In order to enhance the impact of such a policy, employers’ norms and workplace culture as well as the supply of high-quality childcare must catch up with changing workforce preferences.

The effect of public pensions on women's labor market participation over a full life cycle

Spousal and survivor pensions are two important provisions of the US Social Security pension system. In this paper, we assess the impact of these benefits on the female employment rate in the context of a full life‐cycle model in which households decide on female labor supply and savings. One important aspect of our model is that we allow for returns to labor market experience so that participation decisions affect not only current earnings and Social Security pension eligibility but also future earnings. We quantify the effect on female labor supply and on household inequality of (i) removing spousal benefit, (ii) removing both spousal and survivor pension benefits, and (iii) extending from 35 to 40 the number of periods of the working career that are considered when calculating the retired worker's pension. We find that reforms (i) and (ii) significantly increase female employment throughout the life cycle, whereas reform (iii) has a very mild effect. The effect of (ii) on income inequality in older household is large, whereas the effect on consumption inequality is small. All three reforms have substantial effects on Social Security expenditure and fiscal revenues. Social Security Spousal and Survivor Benefits Women's Labor Market Participation D15 H55 J22 J24

Wybrane aspekty aktywności zawodowej kobiet w państwach UE. Analiza dla lat 2006–2014

Jednym z założeń strategii Europa 2020 jest podwyższenie odsetka osób zatrudnionych w wieku 20–64 lata na terenie Unii Europejskiej (UE) do 75%. Realizacja tej strategii ma nastąpić między innymi poprzez zwiększenie aktywności zawodowej kobiet i osób starszych. Powiększenie zasobów siły roboczej ma swoje ekonomiczne uzasadnienie. Związane jest ono przede wszystkim z procesami demograficznymi, a zwłaszcza z powiększaniem się grupy osób w wieku poprodukcyjnym. W różnych państwach UE sytuacja związana z aktywnością zawodową kobiet kształtuje się odmiennie, dlatego też powstało pytanie o podobieństwa i różnice w zaangażowaniu kobiet na rynku pracy w poszczególnych regionach UE. Celem analizy jest grupowanie państw Unii Europejskiej ze względu na różne formy aktywności zawodowej kobiet. Klasyfikacja ta pozwoli na ocenę wzorców dotyczących aktywności zawodowej kobiet w poszczególnych krajach UE. W analizie wykorzystano metodę k-średnich. Dane pochodzą z zasobów Eurostatu z Badania Aktywności Ekonomicznej Ludności. Analizowany okres to lata 2006–2014.

Survivors' pensions and their impact on the Brazilian labour market

AbstractIn many countries the regulations governing survivors' pensions were established in periods when female labour market participation was lower than at present. However, the current trend in many Latin American countries is for growing levels of female labour participation. In Brazil, where there are no restrictions on the concurrent receipt of retirement and survivors' pensions, and where until recently lifelong pensions could be obtained without any conditionality, not only has the accumulation of such benefits grown, but there are indications that these rules have had a negative impact on women's labour market participation. Analysis of the case of Brazil shows the need for social security regulations to adapt to labour market changes, and underlines the need to acknowledge that social security regulations can actually have an impact on the labour market.

Vocational and business training to improve women's labour market outcomes in low‐ and middle‐income countries: a systematic review

Vocational and business training to improve women's labour market outcomes in low‐ and middle‐income countries: a systematic review

Does Neighbourhood Ethnic Concentration in Early Life Affect Subsequent Labour Market Outcomes? A Study across Ethnic Groups in England and Wales

AbstractThe impact of neighbourhood ethnic concentration on ethnic minorities' outcomes is a contested topic, with mixed empirical results. In this paper, we use a large‐scale longitudinal dataset of England and Wales, covering a 40‐year period, to assess the impact of neighbourhood co‐ethnic concentration in childhood on subsequent adult labour market outcomes. We distinguish the five main minority groups in the UK and develop theoretical expectations about how social interaction mechanisms in the neighbourhood might influence their employment and social class outcomes, given different group (cultural values and ethnic capital) and individual (gender) characteristics. By separating in time explanatory and outcome variables and by controlling for factors that mediate or confound co‐ethnic concentration – such as neighbourhood deprivation, household resources in childhood (i.e. parental social class), and individuals' own education – our analytical model tackles potential problems of self‐selection and endogeneity. Among other findings, we show that greater concentration of co‐ethnics in the neighbourhood results in substantially lower labour market participation and lower social class for Pakistani and Bangladeshi women but better social class outcomes for Indian men. We link the outcomes for Pakistani and Bangladeshi women to cultural maintenance of more traditional norms, facilitated by greater social interaction. The results for Indian men, instead, suggest the positive role that high levels of group resources or ‘ethnic capital’ can play. Our study is, we believe, the first to demonstrate a role for co‐ethnic concentration in childhood in explaining Pakistani and Bangladeshi women's low labour market participation and Indian men's labour market success. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Anthony B. Atkinson , Inequality – What Can Be Done ? Cambridge (Mass.) Harvard University Press, 2015, XI-384 p.

The economist Anthony Atkinson has studied the issues of poverty and inequality for over four decades; an index of inequality is named after him. In his most recent work, Atkinson offers a fascinating, encouraging guide to what could be done to reduce monetary inequality. The importance of equal opportunity should not lead us to ignore inequality in outcomes, he explains, not only because the same efforts do not always produce the same results but also because inequality of outcome for one generation can become inequality of opportunity for the next: today's ex-post outcomes shape tomorrow's ex-ante playing field (p. 11). And though income is only one dimension, it is a major source of inequality. The book is divided into three parts: diagnosis; 15 proposals for action that, if implemented, would reduce inequality; and answers to the main objections to taking those actions.While monetary inequality has increased sharply since 1980, there have been non-war periods - primarily the post-WWII decades in Europe and the 2000s decade in Latin America - that have seen falls in inequality. The phenomena at work are clearly and simply explained by means of a diagram detailing the stages through which a household's primary income becomes its disposable income: labour and/or capital income, social transfers, taxation. This in turn enables us to determine at what stage the level of inequality changed in a given country at a given period. While less unequal pay and increases in social transfers and women's labour market participation reduced the extent of overall inequality in post-war Europe, this was not the case in the United States, where the last two factors only worked to compensate for rising pay inequality.Generally speaking, equalizing forces went into reverse in the 1980s in most western countries. Workers and consumers lost power to employers, which, combined with reduced social protection and less progressive taxation, greatly increased inequality. Many of Atkinson's proposals are not new; some, such as the minimum wage, have already been applied. Others are quite radical and so raise the question of feasibility and collateral effects. But they all fit together into a highly consistent whole that forcefully conveys Atkinson's now familiar message: states, and through them citizens (though this is never said explicitly), do have the power to act. Above all, the direction of technological progress is not entirely beyond our control: the state can orient it through investments and stakeholding, and this need not mean increased control over business.Inequality-reducing actions can be taken at three levels: household primary income (labour and/or capital income), taxation policy, and social transfers. These correspond directly to the state's three missions: regulation, redistribution and protection. Atkinson's first set of proposals - minimum wage, a national pay policy, guaranteed public employment, ensuring that technological change and innovation are human-centred - are aimed at reducing pay inequality and containing unemployment. The second set of measures would ensure that every adult receives a minimum inheritance in the form of a capital endowment or state bonds with a guaranteed return.In addition to measures that would work to reduce primary income inequality, Atkinson proposes an ambitious fiscal reform that would make income tax more progressive while widening the fiscal base, easing conditions for low earners, taxing inheritance and gifts during life, and increasing property tax progressiveness.The third raft of proposals is aimed at reforming social protection systems; reductions in this area are one source of recent increases in inequality. …

Teenage motherhood, education, and labor market outcomes of the mother: Evidence from Brazilian data

Abstract This paper studies the effects of teenage motherhood on later educational and labor market achievement of the mothers. We construct a pseudo panel from the Brazilian Household Surveys (the 1992–2004 PNADs) and from the Health Ministry data (DATASUS 1981–1992) by state of birth and cohort. We find that the effects of teenage pregnancy are much stronger for high school completion and labor market participation than for schooling or wages. A reduction in teenage pregnancy by one standard deviation explains (i) 9.2% of the increase in high school completion and (ii) 5.4% of the increase in women's labor market participation, as observed over 10 cohort years. Lifecycle results show that the gains in terms of high school education are greater for younger than for older women, suggesting that women who give birth as teenagers tend to catch up with high school education while young but not as they become older. The results on labor market participation show persistent teenage motherhood effects.

Breaking with Dogma: Unorthodox Consumption Patterns and Women's Labor Market Outcomes in Turkey

ABSTRACTUsing information about household consumption data from TURKSTAT's Household Surveys for 2007–13 as a sign of religious unorthodoxy, this study explores the effect of religion on women's labor force and educational participation in a Muslim-majority country, Turkey. A household is categorized as “unorthodox” if its members report that they consume goods that contradict conservative Sunni practices, such as alcohol. This information is then used in female labor force participation estimations. Results show that living in an unorthodox household has a positive and highly significant effect on the probability of married women's labor market participation. For single women, the estimations provide weaker evidence regarding the positive effect of unorthodoxy on the probability of participation in education and the labor force. The study concludes that protection of the rights to follow unorthodox practices in society may bear positive implications with regard to women's agency.

The Family Working Time Model: Toward More Gender Equality in Work and Care

Since the millennium, the labor market participation of women and mothers is increasing across European countries. Several work/care policy measures underlie this evolution. At the same time, the labor market behavior of men and fathers, as well as their involvement in care work, is relatively unchanging, meaning that employed mothers are facing an increased burden with respect to gainful employment and providing care. We propose a family working time model that incentivizes fathers and mothers to both work in extended part-time employment. It provides a benefit in form of a lumpsum transfer or income replacement for each parent if, and only if, both parents work 30 hours per week. Thus, it explicitly addresses fathers and – contrary to most conventional family policies – actively promotes the dual earner/dual carer paradigm. Combining microsimulation and labor supply estimation, we empirically analyze the potential of the family working time model in the German context. The relatively small share of families already choosing the symmetric distribution of about 30 working hours would increase by 60 per cent. By showing that a lump-sum transfer especially benefits low-income families, we contribute to the debate about redistributive implications of family policies. The basic principles of the model generalize to other European countries where families increasingly desire an equal distribution of employment and care. In order to enhance the impact of such a policy, employers’ norms and workplace culture as well as the supply of high-quality childcare must catch-up with changing workforce preferences.

Older Women's Labor Market Participation and the Conflict between Pulling Effect of Public Pension System and Social Stratification

Older Women's Labor Market Participation and the Conflict between Pulling Effect of Public Pension System and Social Stratification

Do ‘institutional complementarities’ foster female labour force participation?

AbstractWe analyse how female labour force participation responds to policies supporting the work-life balance, and do so using country-level data for 18 OECD countries from 1980 to 2007. Included is an original analysis of ‘complementarities’ between different policy measures, as well as of potential variations in their influence across different family policy regimes. The results highlight that expanded childcare service coverage affects women's labour market participation, which is greater in countries where support for working mothers is higher overall. But the influence of each single policy measure varies across regimes. Interactions between policy measures and the context in which they are implemented are important factors to consider since they can, for instance, either foster the positive impact of one measure or lessen the adverse effect of another.

Women Managers and The Gender-Based Gap in Access to Education: Evidence from Firm-Level Data in Developing Countries

ABSTRACTA number of studies explore the differences in men's and women's labor market participation rates and wages. Some of these differences have been linked to gender disparities in education access and attainment. The present paper contributes to this literature by analyzing the relationship between the proclivity of a firm having a top woman manager and access to education among women relative to men in the country. The study combines the literature on women's careers in management, which has mostly focused on developed countries, with the development literature that has emphasized the importance of access to education. Using firm-level data for seventy-three developing countries in 2007–10, the study finds strong evidence that countries with a higher proportion of top women managers also have higher enrollment rates for women relative to men in primary, secondary, and tertiary education.

Civil Society and the Gender Politics of Economic Competitiveness in Malaysia

Malaysian government planning and policy-making have increasingly come to recognise the role of women and the household in the promotion of a number of strategies aimed at enhancing economic competitiveness. Government planning documents emphasise the need to boost women's labour market participation, increase women's levels of entrepreneurship, and the need to strengthen and support the family unit—developments that can be understood in terms of a market-building agenda in which women's labour and the household are viewed as untapped resources in the struggle to maintain international competitiveness. This article explores an important dimension of this policy turn: the role of civil society in both promoting and resisting this market-building agenda. The paper focuses in particular on two case studies: religious non-governmental organisations involved in implementing ‘family strengthening’ programmes and civil society engagements with the issue of women's representation on corporate boards.

Female employment reduces fertility in rural Senegal.

Economic growth and modernization of society are generally associated with fertility rate decreases but which forces trigger this is unclear. In this paper we assess how fertility changes with increased labor market participation of women in rural Senegal. Evidence from high-income countries suggests that higher female employment rates lead to reduced fertility rates but evidence from developing countries at an early stage of demographic transition is largely absent. We concentrate on a rural area in northern Senegal where a recent boom in horticultural exports has been associated with a sudden increase in female off-farm employment. Using survey data we show that employed women have a significantly higher age at marriage and at first childbirth, and significantly fewer children. As causal identification strategy we use instrumental variable and difference-in-differences estimations, combined with propensity score matching. We find that female employment reduces the number of children per woman by 25%, and that this fertility-reducing effect is as large for poor as for non-poor women and larger for illiterate than for literate women. Results imply that female employment is a strong instrument for empowering rural women, reducing fertility rates and accelerating the demographic transition in poor countries. The effectiveness of family planning programs can increase if targeted to areas where female employment is increasing or to female employees directly because of a higher likelihood to reach women with low-fertility preferences. Our results show that changes in fertility preferences not necessarily result from a cultural evolution but can also be driven by sudden and individual changes in economic opportunities.