Over the past 50 years, the roles of women, particularly those from the "Baby Boom" cohort, have shifted from primarily domestic responsibilities to active participation in the labor force. Moreover, differences in gender norms and sociocultural contexts across countries influence women's labor force participation. This study examined gender differences in the association between work expectations and psychological distress among Baby Boomers in the United States (1946-1964) and South Korea (1955-1963). Data came from the 2006-2018 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (n = 14,005) and the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (n = 2,362). Perceived expectations of working in the next 5 years were reported on a probability scale (0-100%). Psychological distress was assessed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Multivariate mixed-effects logistic regressions were used to examine the longitudinal association between work expectations and psychological distress for men and women. In both countries, women had higher CES-D scores and lower expectations of working in the next 5 years than men. Higher work expectations were robustly associated with lower odds of psychological distress among both men and women in Korea; however, this inverse association was more modest in the United States. The association between expectations and distress was stronger among Korean men (ORmen = 0.83 [0.79, 0.87]) compared to Korean women (ORwomen = 0.89 [0.84, 0.94]); there were no gender differences among U.S. respondents (ORmen = 0.98 [0.94, 1.02]; ORwomen = 0.98 [0.96, 1.00]). Findings highlight the complex interplay between biological sex and social contexts in shaping expectations regarding work in later life.

ABSTRACT Gender norms that dictate the societal behaviour of different genders hinder the labour force participation of women. The Indian state of Kerala presents a striking juxtaposition: despite being lauded for its advancements in gender and human development, the state continues to struggle with low female labour force participation, with only about one-third of the females participating in the labour force in Kerala. Against this context, the study investigates the relationship between gender norms and labour force participation in Kerala, as the state mirrors trends observed at the national level. The study uses primary data obtained through a questionnaire survey from 783 educated young individuals aged between 18 and 45 in Kerala. The primary data reveal that nearly 40% of the respondents hold a conservative view on gender norms concerning gender stereotypes and employment. The empirical estimates from multinomial logistic regression reveal that the labour force participation of individuals is associated with gender norms. The study emphasises the need for targeted policies aimed at expanding affordable childcare services and encouraging shared caregiving responsibilities within families to promote the labour force participation of women.

This paper analyzes the success of the "Womenomics" policy, launched in Japan in 2013 in response to demographic and economic challenges and aimed at increasing women's participation in the workforce, as well as the structural barriers behind it. Among the policy's main goals were increasing women's labour force participation rate and boosting their representation in management positions. Therefore, womenomics has failed to achieve its goals. Although women's labour force participation rate has increased since 1986 (reaching 66% in 2016), this increase has largely coincided with a rise in irregular (precarious) employment rates. Notwithstanding, womenomics, within a neoliberal framework, primarily aims for economic growth rather than genuine social equality. This top-down approach does not adequately address the various economic challenges and pressure to leave the workforce faced by women, particularly in low-skilled occupations. All in all, to create a sustainable impact for womenomics, it must go beyond mere participation metrics and target deep-rooted cultural and institutional transformations that ensure job quality and parental leave are accessible to both genders.

Abstract It is well established that women's labor force participation drops markedly with marriage and childbearing, however, little is known about women's labor market transitions, especially in developing countries. This article uses the Indonesian Family Life Survey to track the employment histories of over 5000 women for more than 20 years, observing women as they get married and have children. The data show that large numbers of Indonesian women drop out of the labor market as a result of marriage and childbearing, particularly from the formal sector. Having worked in the formal sector prior to the birth of a first child reduces the probability of working in the year following the birth by 20 percentage points and reduces the probability of returning to the labor market thereafter by 3.6 percentage points. If women do return to work, formal sector employment is associated with greater delays in returning. There is little evidence of women switching from the formal to the informal sector. Formal sector labor market policies such as flexible work hours, part‐time work, the ability to work from home, and work‐based childcare are likely to boost women's labor force participation, with consequent boosts to economic productivity and prosperity.

Shifting landscapes of Live-in Women Domestic Workers in Uttar Pradesh demonstrate the ongoing socio-economic and cultural transformations shaping urban and semi-urban areas of India. With rapid urbanization and increasing women’s labour force participation in formal sector have substantially augmented the dependence on women domestic workers in families living in urban centres of Uttar Pradesh. This paper attempts to examine how women engaged in informal sector as domestic aid are supporting women working in formal sector. Women and families working in villages as “kameens” are often paid less by their “Jajmans” and hence, they tend to look for alternative job opportunities including MNREGA in village itself. But still, they experience monetary difficulties. As a result, they get fascinated by the employment opportunities, quality of education, standard of living and financial freedom of semi-urban and urban centres. These are few pull factors that compel them to migrate to semi-urban and urban areas. On the other hand, the increasing women labour force participation in formal sector has created a vacuum in context of their daily household tasks. Therefore, the women domestic workers play a crucial role in providing help in urban households and taking over the absence by performing all the chores including care-giving and nurturing in these households. With the process of urbanisation, the families who have migrated to urban areas of Uttar Pradesh still have their economic and emotional ties with their villages. In this scenario, they strive to strengthen their rural connects and engage women for household work in urban and semi-urban localities from their native village who were earlier performing the role of kameens. These women from kameen families are often seen as reliable source of support. The present study tries to analyse the shifting landscapes of live-in women domestic workers in Uttar Pradesh through sociological lens. It scrutinizes how the intersection of caste, class and gender hierarchies shape the working and living conditions of these women. The research paper highlights how live-in domestic workers reveal the blurred lines between domestic space and workspace, care and paid labour, affection and authority within employer–employee relations. The study unwraps the continuation of traditional roles based on kinship, caste and village bonds brings access to employment and often reinforce social hierarchies with the domestic realm. Although the employers treat them like a family member, nevertheless, the deep-rooted asymmetries of power and dependence cannot be ignored. Even without formal labour rights, live-in domestic workers exercise quiet forms of resistance and everyday negotiation to assert dignity within these confined intimate spaces. Uttar Pradesh is witnessing a transition from an agrarian economy to a diversified urban centre. Historically rooted in agriculture, state’s economic profile is being reshaped by the expansion of trade, industries, and the growing service sector. Developments across all sectors have opened new avenues of employment, particularly for women. This economic expansion led to an increasing dependence on domestic workers to sustain urban lifestyles. With more women entering the formal workforce, the demand for paid domestic labour for tasks such as childcare, eldercare, cleaning, and cooking has amplified.

This paper investigates the structural barriers to women's labor force participation (LFP) in East Asia, focusing on China, Japan, and South Korea. While each of these countries has achieved remarkable economic development, traditional gender norms rooted in Confucianism and high-pressure economic systems continue to hinder womens full participation in the workforce. Using gender role socialization theory and structural inequality theory as the analytical framework, the study draws on labor statistics, national policy documents, and prior academic research to conduct a comparative analysis of female LFP. The findings reveal three key challenges: the persistence of gendered family roles (widowed parenting and the M-shaped employment curve), workplace discrimination (wage gaps, career interruptions, and low representation in senior management), and inadequate family support policies. Although all three countries have introduced reforms, many remain symbolic and insufficient. Notably, the study finds variation in how these issues manifest: Chinas urban-rural divide, Japans entrenched non-regular employment for women, and South Koreas severe wage gap and rigid family-first ideology. The paper concludes that effective policy must move beyond token measures and address deep-rooted cultural and institutional structures to ensure gender equality. Only by dismantling these systemic barriers can East Asian societies fully realize womens economic potential..

This study inquired into the way socioeconomic, institutional, and digitalization aspects relate to women's participation in the labor force. Making use of the data from 28 developing nations gathered between 1997 and 2022, the Granger causality test and the fixed effect panel estimate method were utilized to examine the relationship between the variables. The analysis results certified that, at low quantiles, women's labor force participation and economic growth uphold a positive but statistically insignificant relationship. In the opposite direction, it was discovered that the impact of inflation on female labor force participation is negative at medium and high quantiles while it is statistically insignificant at low quantiles. Despite being proven to exert a positive influence on the participation of females in the labor force, the model's gross fixed capital accumulation has been determined to be statistically insignificant at very high quantiles. At every quantile degree, it was also detected that the number of women in parliament, the internet use, and urbanization all had a positive impact on female labor force participation. Granger causality studies, on the other side, manifested that there is a unidirectional causality from the internet usage, urbanization and the number of women in parliament to the female labor force. Nonetheless, the findings indicated that there is a bidirectional causality between inflation and the female labor force and a unidirectional causality from the female labor force to gross fixed capital accumulation. It was finally concluded that there is no evidence of a causal relationship between female labor force participation and economic growth.

Gender inequality continues to be a major concern for humanity as it hinders inclusivity and social progress. The gender differences are the manifestations of the complex power relations in the society aggravated by strong patriarchal norms. The paper is an attempt to examine the status and determinants of gender inequality across the states of India. The study is based on secondary datasets such as National Family Health Survey-5, Census of India, Periodic Labour Force Survey, Ministry of Law and Justice report to evaluates the gender inequality status and determinants using a gender inequality framework. The Gender Inequality Index (GII) scores revealed that overall higher levels of gender inequality do not concentrate in one particular region, rather it spread across the states. It argued that even though the status of women has improved in recent times, yet gender inequality still prevails in many parts of the country. The study found that political representation and labour force participation of women are the strong determinants of gender inequality in the Indian society. Thus, the study influences the current scenario to a great extent and major implications of the study will be helpful to formulate effective policies to ensure gender equality in the society. Keywords: Gender Inequality, Reproductive health, Women, Gender Inequality Index (GII)

Purpose This paper examines whether or not gender disparity exists in labour market outcomes during IMF austerity programs with tax conditionality. Design/methodology/approach Annual time series data on the Ghanaian economy from 1990 to 2023 is used. The empirical strategies are the autoregressive distributed lag bounds test and the two-stage least squares instrumental variable techniques. Findings The main findings indicate that the unemployment gap between women and men widens during IMF programs, especially when tax conditionality is imposed. The evidence also suggests that, besides widening the labour force participation gap, the decline in labour force participation of women is more pronounced than that of men during IMF programs. However, stronger democratic regimes can help reduce these negative effects on women’s participation. Practical implications To address Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, which aims to achieve gender equality and empower women, policymakers may need to incorporate gender considerations into public policy formulation. Particularly, gender indicators must be incorporated in the performance metrics during program design. Additionally, disaggregated data on gendered labour market outcomes must be collected and analysed appropriately to inform policy. Originality/value This paper presents a unique case for developing countries, particularly in the Ghanaian context, due to the frequency and multiplicity with which IMF bailouts are sought. Besides focusing on unemployment and labour force participation gaps as outcome variables, gendered disaggregated data and interactive regressions are also employed to enhance the depth of the analysis. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-01-2025-0055

Human capital is a key determinant of individual labor supply. Within the new human capital theory framework, this study examines how non-cognitive skills influence female labor supply from a gender perspective. Using 2018 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data, we measure non-cognitive skills across five dimensions: conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, openness, and emotional stability. A structural equation model reveals that these skills enhance social capital accumulation, significantly increasing female labor supply. They are critical factors affecting women's labor force participation and working hours. Policy efforts should prioritize strengthening maternity security, fostering social capital networks, and developing children's non-cognitive skills to promote higher female labor supply.

The association of individual food security status with women's political participation, labor-force participation, and reproductive health: A cross-sectional analysis of gendered structural inequality in the League of Arab States.

This study introduces a theoretical framework of women’s labour force participation (LFP) decision as a manifestation of two opposing forces—the labour market’s ‘push’ in favour of, and social institutions’ ‘pull’ away from participation. The socioculturally diverse southwestern Indian state of Kerala is chosen as the ideal setting to test this framework. Using data from two rounds of the Kerala Migration Survey (KMS)—2013 and 2018—the study finds that higher levels of education reduce the likelihood that women participate in the labour force. This article also addresses the impact of a shock to migration—the Nitaqat system—on women’s LFP and finds evidence that long-standing social norms that prevent women’s LFP can change under economic crises such as the Nitaqat system that caused a large-scale return migration of Muslim emigrants from the Gulf countries. We find that prior to the migration shock, in the Muslim-dominated Malabar region, the strong social norms of the Sunni Muslims permeates across religions, which discourages women's LFP. Due to the return migration of predominantly Muslim men prompted by the Nitaqat system, we find evidence of a more favorable attitude towards women's labor force participation (LFP) in the Malabar region. By studying women’s LFP in Kerala, which has a significant proportion of Hindus, Christians and Muslims, the article finds support for LFP decisions as influenced by categorical identity affiliations.

This study develops a multidimensional index that includes sustainability and inclusiveness as well as quantitative measures to assess Türkiye's growth performance. The Sustainable and Inclusive Economic Growth (SIEG) Index brings together economic, social and sustainability indicators in a holistic framework. The index is built on ten variables, including education level, income inequality, labour force participation of women and youth, R&D expenditures, labour productivity and the share of renewable energy. The SIEG index created by using Principal Component Analysis was constructed with data covering the years 1992-2023. The results show that Türkiye's long-term growth has faced significant disruptions in terms of sustainability and inclusiveness, with a more pronounced structural transformation emerging after 2010. The study suggests that growth policies should emphasise qualitative and inclusive approaches rather than focusing solely on GDP. The SIEG Index provides a powerful decision support tool for policymakers.

Women's labor force participation in the United States rose rapidly until the mid-1990s when it flattened out. I examine the impact of this change in trend on aggregate business cycles with a quantitative model that incorporates gender differences. I show that the rise in women's participation played a substantial role in the Great Moderation and not allowing for gender differences leads to incorrect inference on its causes. The subsequent slowdown in women's participation played a substantial role in jobless recoveries and reduced aggregate hours and output growth in expansions, worsening aggregate economic performance in the United States. (JEL E13, E23, E24, E32, J16, J22)

Female labour force participation (FLFP) in Indonesia remains stagnant despite educational progress and economic development. Studies about FLFP determinants in Indonesia exist, but their findings are scattered, making it difficult to establish a definitive conclusion. Therefore, this study aims to synthesise previous studies and map the factors that affect FLFP in Indonesia through systematic literature analysis. Guided by the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) framework, this study reviewed 20 selected studies without restriction on publication year, covering peer-reviewed and grey literature up to April 2025. This study categorised determinants of FLFP into four groups: personal characteristics (age, marital status, and residential location), family characteristics (children's presence, household headship, household income, family size, and elderly members), educational attainment, and traditional gender norms. This study found that existing literature exhibited a linear and non-linear pattern between age and FLFP, while married status and childcare responsibilities decreased female participation rates. As a crucial factor, most studies have consistently found that higher education significantly increases FLFP. Moreover, traditional gender norms and specific religions prevent women from entering the labour market. Based on the findings, providing employees with better access to affordable child care and flexible work arrangements is required to support women's employment. The long-term recommendation requires comprehensive and supportive strategies, including increasing tertiary education access for women and labour law reform, such as maternity and paternity leave and social protections for women in the informal sector. Future research needs to study how gender, household dynamics, religion, and geography influence women's labour force participation through an intersectional and longitudinal perspective.

Purpose The present study aims to examine the impact of exports on female labor force participation in India using state-level data. In particular, the study seeks to answer the following questions: First, what is the impact of the export intensity of a state on the likelihood of female labor force participation? Second, do existing business competition, gendered norms and occupational mobility moderate the relationship between export intensity and female labor force participation? Design/methodology/approach The empirical approach of the study utilizes an identification strategy that exploits the detailed person and household level survey data by the National Sample Survey and links it to the states’ export intensity. Logistic regression analysis is used to predict the probability of labor force participation conditional upon the change in various explanatory variables including the export intensity of the state. Findings The findings suggest that states with higher export intensity witness higher odds of female labor force participation. We find a positive impact of export intensity on labor force participation for both urban and rural women. However, the impact appears to be quantitatively larger for urban women. In case of various sub groups based on education levels, export intensity of a state increases the odds of labor force participation of females with secondary and tertiary education. Furthermore, the relationship between export intensity and female labor force participation is stronger for states with favorable gender norms and higher occupational mobility of women. Originality/value The study employs a unique identification strategy that exploits the geographic variation in exposure to international trade and discerns its effects on female labor force participation. The study also augments the existing literature by investigating various factors such as occupational mobility, societal attitude towards women that moderate the nexus between exports and women’s labor force participation. The analysis is also conducted for various subgroups such as rural and/or urban women and women with different education levels.

This study aims to analyze the role of gender equality on poverty levels in Aceh Province during the 2018–2023 period. Gender equality is measured through three main indicators, namely the Gender Development Index (GDI), women's income contribution to household income, and women's Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR). The method used in this study is panel data regression with the Fixed Effect Model (FEM) approach. The results of the analysis show that the GDI has a negative and significant effect on poverty, which means that increasing gender equality contributes to reducing poverty levels. Women's income contributions also show a negative and significant effect, indicating that the greater the economic contribution of women, the lower the poverty level. Conversely, women's LFPR does not show a significant effect on poverty in Aceh. These findings indicate that the quality of women's participation in development is more important than the quantity of participation. Therefore, policies are needed to support improving the quality of women's resources and expanding their access to the economic sector as part of the poverty alleviation strategy in Aceh Province.

Gendered impacts of oil price shocks: analyzing women's labor force participation in petrostates

ABSTRACT Gender pay gaps persist as a significant feature of labor markets in developing countries, with disparities varying across the wage distribution and between urban and rural areas. Using data from the 2012, 2015, and 2017 Labor Force Surveys, we investigate wage discrimination and its implications for women's labor force participation, incorporating corrections for potential selection bias. Beyond the traditional Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition, we employ the Recentered Influence Function decomposition to analyze gaps across the distribution. Our results show that wage gaps are more pronounced at the lower end of the distribution, suggesting that women face significant challenges in securing equal compensation and advancing in their careers. However, once they reach leadership positions, they tend to earn comparable wages. Complementary Oaxaca–Blinder decompositions reveal a significant gender wage gap in urban areas, with women earning 8.3% and 3.4% less than men in 2012 and 2017, respectively. The unexplained gap, often associated with potential discrimination, decreased from 25% to 11% over the period. In rural areas, the gap reached 41.8% in 2012 and 25.4% in 2017, indicating a narrowing trend. Our results highlight the need for targeted public policies to address the structural barriers women face, particularly in low-paid jobs and rural labor markets.

This study investigates the impact of education on the economic empowerment of women in Lampung Province during the 2019 to 2023 period. Despite advancements in educational access, significant gender disparities persist in Indonesia, particularly in Lampung, affecting women's participation in the workforce and political decision-making and contributing to wage gaps. This research aims to analyze how different levels of education influence women's political participation, their involvement in the labor force, and the proportion of their wages relative to men. Employing a quantitative descriptive approach with panel data regression analysis, the study utilizes secondary data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) and the National Labor Force Survey (SAKERNAS) across 15 regencies/cities in Lampung. Key findings reveal that while higher education (university level) significantly boosts women's labor force participation and wage proportion, secondary education (SMA) plays a more dominant role in fostering political engagement. Furthermore, the study confirms a persistent gender wage gap, with men's participation having a larger impact on wage proportion. These results underscore the critical role of education in women's empowerment and advocate for targeted policies to enhance educational access, promote equitable wages, and address systemic discrimination to achieve sustainable gender equality in Lampung