Women's Labor Force Research Articles

DietrichVollrath, Fully Grown: Why a Stagnant Economy Is a Sign of Success, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 2019. 296 p. $27.50

The post-World War II years brought unprecedented economic growth to much of the world, resulting in massive declines in poverty and huge wealth. How long can this go on? In the United States and other highly developed countries, economic growth has slowed significantly after 2000. This book examines the fundamental causes of this slowdown. Although many highly developed countries have experienced declining growth rates, the analysis of economic trends presented here is largely confined to the United States. The focus throughout is on the rate of growth of real GDP per capita and the central question addressed is why this declined from 2.25 percent for 1950–2000 in the United States to just 1 percent during 2000–2016—a decline of 1.25 percentage points. Initial chapters estimate the roles of the three factors of production that drive economic growth according to neoclassical growth theory: physical capital, human capital, and productivity. The per capita growth rates in these factors are calculated for each decade from 1950 to 2016. The main finding is that a decline in the growth rate of human capital is the dominant cause of the slowdown. The expansion of human capital peaked in the 1970s and 1980s and turned negative after 2000. The second most important factor is a reduction in the growth of productivity, caused by a shift over time in spending from goods to services and slower productivity growth in services industries than in manufacturing. Subsequent chapters examine trends in the four factors driving the stock of human capital per capita: workers per capita (i.e., proportion of the population employed), hours worked per week, average worker experience, and average worker education. A large reduction in the growth rate of workers per capita is found to be the dominant explanation for the slowdown in human capital, with the stalling of education improvements playing a smaller but still significant role. The trend in workers per capita is, in turn, attributable to age structure changes brought about by the baby boom and by the leveling-off in women's labor force participation. These findings are important because they imply a new normal of slower growth in the economically advanced countries. The high growth rates of the second half of the 20th century were mostly due to one-time positive developments such as the baby boom moving into the labor force, the mass expansion of higher education and the rise in female labor force participation. The shift from manufacturing to services will likely continue. The text is clearly written, but not an easy read because a large number of factors are examined and the analysis requires the comparison of changes in growth rates (i.e., second derivatives of time series) of the factors of production. My only quibble is with the book's title. Calling a stalling economy a sign of success is at best awkward.

“Making it work: Migration, motherhood and employment in Australia”

The transition into motherhood is often associated with a reduction in women's labor force participation, reinforcing gender employment hierarchies. Our study compares women's employment status and paid work time prior to and following birth among immigrants and native-borns in Australia. We also consider how these outcomes differ by generation status and racial and ethnic background. Australia provides a valuable context to understand these outcomes given its skilled migration policy, racial and ethnic diversity, limited childcare and family leave policies, and high rates of part-time work among mothers. We examine longitudinal data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) for women from 2001 to 2016. We find that migrant women show lower employment levels and commensurate work hours than native-borns prior to childbirth. After childbirth, migrant mothers maintain lower employment levels, but higher work hours than native-born mothers. Overall, we find that relative to native-borns, migrant women typically experience a smaller reduction in employment and work hours following childbirth, but some of this is likely due to their lower starting position prior to childbirth. Our findings have implications for skilled immigration policies and highlights the unique work-family pressures facing immigrant and native-born women.

Male‐biased Demand Shocks and Women's Labour Force Participation: Evidence from Large Oil Field Discoveries

Do male‐biased labour demand shocks affect women's labour market outcomes? To study this question, we examine large oil field discoveries in the southern USA from 1900 to 1940. We find that oil wealth has an overall positive effect on female labour force participation that is driven by single women. While oil discoveries increase demand for male labour and raise male wages, they do not drive women out of the tradable goods sector or the labour force. Our findings suggest that the absence of any crowding out effects of oil wealth can be explained by compensating forces such as demand effects within the tradable sector, or by income effects that lead to growth in the non‐tradable sector.

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. …

Women's Labor Force Participation and Household Technology Adoption

We examine how women's employment leads to household technology adoption in the context of mid-century United States. We posit that this relationship is strongest for households with low earning capacity whose consumption-leisure tradeoff crosses a threshold as women go to work. Using WWII factories to instrument for female labor demand, we find that a standard deviation increase in female labor force participation increases washing machine ownership by 0.44 standard deviations, which is driven primarily by counties in the lowest pre-war education quintile. Changes to household income, as well as the substitution of paid domestic labor with appliances, are important channels.

Statističko učenje bazirano na kompleksnim vrednostima za istraživanje učešća radne snage mladih u Srbiji

Youth employment in labour force has a critical importance in socio-economic planning. It is expected that the use of dynamic and able-bodied work force can increase the quality of the industrial products and it is also necessary to strengthen the economy. More importantly, the contribution to labour force has a crucial importance for public welfare. At this stage, since the role of young women in the total labour force is not considered sufficiently, this study concentrates on the determination of the relative effect of women labour force. For this purpose, first the youth employment is considered as a complex quantity; along with the real component (young men), the contribution of young women is treated as the imaginary component. By using the data derived from 20 different domains (sectors), the problem is stated as a complex value problem and a measurement uncertainty analysis is utilized. The measurement uncertainty of the complex quantity (employment) is expressed by a region in the complex plane. Finally, a confidence ellipse at 95% confidence level is produced. The phase diagrams produced by statistical learning have provided some abnormalities and also potentials.

Women Labor Force Participation and Governance in Developing Economies: A Panel Analysis

The current study empirically investigates the relationship among female labor force participation and governance in developing nations, using panel data of 62 developing countries, from year 1996 to 2016. The two variables taken as dependent variables are women labor force participation and governance. Results of GMM estimation showed that there is positive association between women labor force participation and governance. Education, GDP per capita, and globalization has positive, while income inequality has negative impact on governance. Similarly, education, fertility rate and rural population has negative, and globalization has positive impact on female labor force participation. So, it is concluded that the importance of governance and women labor force participation cannot be refused in terms of growth enhancement, which will consequently improve the social and economic conditions of developing countries.

Food Insecurity: Does It Push Married Women to Participate in Labor Force?

Women's labor force participation in Indonesia tends to be lower than men. In married women, decisions to participate in labor force are more complicated related to their duties at home. Economic difficulties is one of the reason for their participation. This research aims to look the relationship of household food insecurity that illustrates the economic difficulties and material hardship of the family to the woman labor force participation. Using 2017 Susenas survey, this paper assesed food insecurity from Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES). The results show that labor force participation in married women is 50,05 percent where most of the married women work in informal sector (60,31 percent). However, probit regression shows that tendencies of married women to participate into labor market higher with the severity of the food insecurity. Married women who experience severe food insecurity 6,3 point percent more likely to participate in the labor force than the one who has food security. But overall, education, husband’s working status and type of residence are the strongest determinant of married women labor force participation.

Female labor force participation in the US: How is immigration shaping recent trends?

Women entered the paid workforce in unprecedented numbers during the 20th century. Yet recent years have been witness to a creeping reversal in women's labor force participation. Why did the revolution stall? In response to debates over a “natural” limit to women's employment, or a cultural backlash against the dual-breadwinner household, we consider an alternative explanation, namely whether immigration has slowed the growth in female labor force participation. Using CPS data from 1998 to 2018, we show that the increase in the share of immigrants and children of immigrants in the population has reduced overall female labor force participation. However, immigration accounts for relatively little of the retreat from the labor force. Instead, the compositional effect of population change is overshadowed by behavioral shifts that affect both natives and immigrants. Lower participation rates among native-born women accounts for most of the overall decline. Despite persistent differences, we also find substantial convergence in the labor force behavior of native-born and foreign-born women, which bodes well for the long-term economic incorporation of immigrants and their children.

Determinants of age-appropriate breastfeeding, dietary diversity, and consumption of animal source foods among Indonesian children.

Global child feeding practices remain suboptimal. In this study, we assess the determinants of age‐inappropriate breastfeeding, dietary diversity, and consumption of 3+ types of animal source foods (ASFs) using 11,687 observations from combined data from the Indonesian Demographic Health Survey of 2012 and 2017. We used linear and logistic regression after adjusting for the complex sampling design. Child's age and quality of antenatal care (ANC) were associated with all outcomes. Socio‐economic status and labour force participation were positively associated with higher dietary diversity score, ASF consumption, and age‐inappropriate breastfeeding. More ANC visits and having consultation at ANC were associated with more dietary diversity. Higher women's knowledge level was associated with more dietary diversity and consuming more ASF. Compared with western Indonesia, more children in eastern Indonesia were age‐inappropriately breastfed and had lower dietary diversity. The Indonesian government needs to develop programmes to improve child feeding particularly in eastern Indonesia, focusing on improving dietary diversity and ASF consumption in poorer households and on prolonging breastfeeding in richer households. Women's labour force participation should be encouraged, but programmes for working mothers are also needed to support continued breastfeeding and to express breast milk. ANC and postnatal programmes need improved consultation sessions for child feeding.

Effects of Market-Based Development on Women’s Empowerment: Impact on Families

Is diffusing global market-based development beneficial for women? Does it improve or hinder women's empowerment and in turn, the prosperity of their families? Is women's empowerment advantageous to the development of families and countries? The manuscript depicts and provides a critical review of variables of marker-based development that are relevant to women's empowerment (a) objectives of market-based development, (b) elements of the organizational structure of workplaces, and (c) welfare provisions. The study argues that these variables, when taken together interactively, form a conceptual framework of women's empowerment under conditions of market-based development. First, the study illustrates the implications of this framework. Second, it conducts statistical analyses to demonstrate the differential effects of market-based development on women's as compared to men's empowerment across the world. The empirical analyses indicate that the effects of countries' market-based development on women's and men's economic, health, and educational opportunities are generally positive, nonetheless over time, in contrast to men, women's labor force and maternal health weaken. The study concludes discussing the importance of the defined conceptual framework and demonstrated gender differences of effects of market-based development to future scholarly analyses and policymaking.

The Impact of Transportation Infrastructure on Women's Employment in India

ABSTRACTIndian women's labor force participation is extremely low, and women are much less likely than men to work in the nonfarm sector. Earlier research has explained women's labor supply by individual characteristics, social institutions, and cultural norms, but not enough attention has been paid to the labor market opportunity structure that constrains women's labor market activities. Using data from the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) in 2004–05 and 2011–12, this study examines how village transportation infrastructure affects women's and men's agricultural and nonagricultural employment. Results from fixed-effect analysis show that access by paved or unpaved roads and frequent bus services increase the odds of nonagricultural employment among men and women. The effect of road access on nonfarm employment (relative to not working) is stronger among women than among men. Improved transportation infrastructure has a stronger positive effect on women's nonfarm employment in communities with more egalitarian gender norms.

Tax, Social Policy and Gender: Rethinking Equality and Efficiency, by MirandaStewart (ed.) (ANU Press, Acton, ACT, 2017), pp. xxvi + 358.

As most readers would be aware, second income earners in Australia are almost always the female partner, arising out of a social climate in which women predominantly assume the unpaid carer role and tend to occupy industries and job roles that pay less. These gender-differentiated effects mean that adjusting any element of EMTRs will tend to influence women's labour force participation more profoundly than men's - necessitating a gender-sensitive lens on policy design. My prediction is that this publication will help lay valuable foundations for the future stream of gender-lensing research that will be increasingly sought by contemporary policy practitioners who are attuned to the underlying drivers of gender inequities in societal and economic architecture. [Extracted from the article] email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

What Explains Uneven Female Labor Force Participation Levels and Trends in Developing Countries?

AbstractRapid fertility decline, a strong expansion of female education, and favorable economic conditions should have promoted female labor force participation in developing countries. Yet trends in female labor force participation rates (FLFP) have been quite heterogeneous, rising strongly in Latin America and stagnating in many other regions, while improvements were modest in the Middle East and female participation even fell in South Asia. These trends are inconsistent with secular theories such as the feminization U hypothesis but point to an interplay of initial conditions, economic structure, structural change, and persistent gender norms and values. We find that differences in levels are heavily affected by historical differences in economic structure that circumscribe women's economic opportunities still today. Shocks can bring about drastic changes, with the experience of socialism being the most important shock to women's labor force participation. Trends are heavily affected by how much women's labor force participation depends on their household's economic conditions, how jobs deemed appropriate for more educated women are growing relative to the supply of more educated women, whether growth strategies are promoting female employment, and to what extent women are able to break down occupational barriers within the sectors where women predominantly work.

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.

Trade Openness and Women Participation in the Labor Market: Evidence from South Asia

This paper seeks to investigate the impact of trade openness on women labor force participation in South Asian countries. The paper also controls GDP per capita, women literacy rate, urban population, unemployment rate, male labor force participation and other attributes. I will check the robustness of a variety of different approaches in dealing with the various models to trade openness. The paper also examines both push and pull factors induced or not women to join the labor force. Thus, a country that is exporting female labor stuff is actually recruiting more female labor and expand employment of female labors. The focus of this paper lies on the effects of trade openness on women’s participation in the labor market. Keywords : female labor force participation, trade openness, South Asia, international trade DOI : 10.7176/JCSD/50-02 Publication date :July 31 st 2019

Women's labour force participation in nineteenth‐century England and Wales: evidence from the 1881 census enumerators’ books

AbstractThis article uses a new source of data, namely the full sample of the 1881 census enumerators’ books, to study female labour force participation. It examines the interaction between labour demand and supply to gauge their relative importance in determining female labour force participation rates (LFPRs). Three main findings emerge from the current article. First, there is an unmistakable link between labour demand and female LFPRs. High levels of female labour force participation are found in areas where there were industries with ample demand for female labour. Second, supply‐side factors also had clear effects on female LFPRs. However, they can only operate within the limit imposed by the demand‐side conditions. Third, female migration did not fundamentally change the spatial patterns of female LFPRs. Overall, this article argues that the demand side of the female labour market was the most important factor in determining female LFPRs in nineteenth‐century England and Wales.

World Policy Analysis

Food is one of the fundamental aspects of human existence. Thus, it important for every country in the world to be able to be food-secure. Providing access to food for its citizens will bring positive long-term impacts ranging from economic growth and job creation, poverty reduction, trade opportunities, increasing global security and stability, and also improving health and healthcare in a nation (National Institute of Food and Agriculture, n.d.). However, not every nation has the capacity to achieve that goal due to several contributing factors such as 1) Drought and other extreme weather events, 2) Pests, livestock diseases and other agricultural problems, 3) Climate change, 4) Military conflicts, 5) Lack of emergency plans, 6) Corruption and political instability, 7) Cash crops dependence, 8) AIDS as it reduces the available workforce in agriculture and puts an additional burden on poor households, 9) Rapid population growth. 
 Yemen, and Burundi were intentionally chosen to be analyzed because of their unambiguous differences in order to show the various needs and solutions of each country. These 2 countries represent different rankings in the Global Food Security Index (GFSI 2018) where Burundi became the lowest ranking country, yet poses an interesting connection to Yemen. Yemen was selected because of the current famine crisis happening. From the analysis conducted, it can be concluded that long-standing conflict, Scarcity of basic needs, blockade of import and export activities are the main factors contributing to Yemen's food insecurity. On the other hand, it was found that Gender inequality especially the role of women in labor force, climate shock, and political instability are the main factors contributing to Burundi's food insecurity.

The Relationship between Women's Education with Women's Labor Participation and National Income: A Research on G20 Countries.

The purpose of this research is to reveal the relationship between women’s education, women's labor force participation and national income in G20 countries. The relationships between women's education, women's labor force participation and national income were analyzed by the panel data analysis method for the G20 countries for the period 1997-2018. Stability of series were tested by Fisher ADF and Fisher PP panel root tests and the series were determined to be I (1). Pedroni (2004) was used to test the existence of cointegration relationships between the series. The series were found to be cointegrated. The long- and short-term relationships of the series were analyzed by the Panel DOLS method and it is determined that the increase of female schooling level increase the female labor force participation rate, increase of female schooling level and female labor force participation rate increase the per capita (real) national income. A two-way causality relationship was found between the ratio of women in higher education and national income per person. In addition, two-way causality relations between women's labor force participation rates and schooling rates at all levels of women were determined. In the study, it is concluded that in G20 countries, women's schooling rate increases the women's participation in the labor market and increases of women's schooling rate and female employment increase the national income per capita in countries. Article visualizations:

Increasing earnings inequality and the gender pay gap in Canada: Prospects for convergence

AbstractThis paper retraces the evolution of Canadian women's labour force participation and of the gender earnings ratio across the generations to understand better the prospects for gender convergence in pay. Using data from the public use Labour Force Surveys (LFS) and administrative annual earnings data from the Longitudinal Worker Files (LWF), the paper assesses the role of increasing top earnings inequality in the persistence of the gender pay gap. Having identified a growing role for the under‐representation of women among top earners, the paper then performs an evaluation and critical analysis of existing gender equality policies, centred on horizontal occupational gender segregation, and discusses alternative policies for the future.