Women In Labor Market Research Articles

Does Climate Change Hinder Women's Participation in the Labour Market in Africa?

ABSTRACTClimate change remains a global threat whose disparate and controversial impacts over the past three decades have fuelled an extremely fertile literature. In this article, we analyse its effects on women's participation in the labour market (WPLM) based on a sample of 48 African countries. For this purpose, we consider two dimensions of climate change (temperature and rainfall), then specify and estimate a dynamic panel data model using the System Generalised Method of Moments (S‐GMM) over the period 2000–2019. Our results show that approximate climate change significantly reduces women's labour market participation in Africa due to exposure to greater vulnerability, particularly with respect to agriculture, which is their main source of income. The robustness of the results is demonstrated by the women's sectoral employment in agriculture, industry and services through Africa. We suggest the effectiveness of sustainable climate policies to consolidate and ensure better integration of women in the labour market and improve the gender equity in the African workforce.

Decision-making as cognitive household labor: Higher education expansion, women empowerment, and their intra-household decision-making responsibility

This paper explores whether higher education expansion can influence women's intra-household decision-making using China's expansion policy since 1999 as a quasi-experiment. We find that the expansion significantly enhances women's higher education attainment and labor market performance, but diminishes their involvement in household decision-making. Within households, decision-making responsibilities mainly shift to other family members, not husbands. Further analysis indicates that women with earned income tend to assume fewer household decision-making responsibilities, suggesting decision-making resembles cognitive labor rather than the exercise of resource allocation power. We also observe a decline in women's adherence to traditional gender norms and an improvement in their well-being. In conclusion, higher education expansion reduces women's labor input in household chores, contributing to a narrowing of gender inequality in household labor. At last, we advise researchers to exercise caution when using decision-making as a measure of bargaining power.

The payroll tax contribution limit and women's labor market outcomes

AbstractObjectiveTo examine the effect of the male partner's entry into payroll tax‐exempt earnings on the female partner's labor market outcomes.BackgroundEmployees only pay payroll taxes up to a specific limit, which results in a comparatively greater increase in the take‐home pay of individuals who earn labor incomes above this threshold. We argue that returns from payroll‐exempt labor are gendered: That is, because men are more likely high earners than women, they will more often benefit from the payroll tax ceiling. This increases the labor market returns of men and sets substantial incentives within couples to reduce the paid labor of the secondary earner.MethodWe use panel data from the United States (PSID) to examine changes in women's annual work hours, hourly wages, and earnings over the partner's entry into payroll tax‐exempt labor (treatment) using fixed‐effect models with individual slopes. The models enable us to assess women's labor market outcomes while adjusting for heterogeneous within‐couple earnings differential slopes before treatment in addition to any time‐constant heterogeneity. Our sample contains 7297 women providing 65,811 observations.ResultsWomen's earnings on average diminished by 4% after the partner breaks through the payroll tax contribution threshold. This was mostly explained by changes in annual work hours, which on average decreased by 4%. We did not find reduced hourly wages in the short run.ConclusionWe conclude that payroll exemptions for high earners reinforce gender inequality within upper‐income couples, which is a link hitherto missed in the literature.

Can higher education improve egalitarian gender role attitudes? Evidence from China

Egalitarian gender role attitudes are crucial for empowering women across household, labor market, and political spheres; however, the evolution of these attitudes remains underexplored. This study examines the impact of higher education on gender role attitudes using a quasi-natural experiment based on China's higher education expansion. The data are obtained from the China Family Panel Studies. Our results reveal that this expansion considerably enhanced higher education attainment for men and women; however, the effects on gender role attitudes are asymmetric. While higher education positively influences women's career-related gender norms, it does not substantially impact their marriage-related attitudes or men's gender role attitudes. Moreover, attaining higher education also improves women's career-related gender equality behaviors. Further analysis indicates that these divergent impacts are attributable to patriarchal Confucian culture, educated women's superior labor market performance, and the lack of gender equality education. We also consider the role of marriage-matching patterns, whereby women tend to marry partners with higher education and greater earnings, which reinforces traditional gender roles in marriage.

The Emergence of the Socioeconomic Gradient in Women's Marriage Outcomes

Abstract We present new findings about the relationship between marriage and socioeconomic background in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Imputing socioeconomic status of family of origin from first names, we document a socioeconomic gradient for women in the probability of marriage and the socioeconomic status of husbands, which widens over this period. Regional divergence in occupational structure explains half of the divergence in the probability of marriage, and most of the increase in marital sorting. Urbanization and the associated improvement in women's labor market opportunities drive most of these differences.

Mapping Employment Status of Women in Labour Market: A Case Study of Haryana (1993-94 to 2017-18)

Mapping Employment Status of Women in Labour Market: A Case Study of Haryana (1993-94 to 2017-18)

How the other half works: Claudia Goldin's contributions to our understanding of women's labour market outcomes

AbstractThe Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2023 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel to Claudia Goldin “for having advanced our understanding of women's labour market outcomes”. This paper surveys Goldin's contributions, analysing women's labour force participation from the late 1700s through to the present. To document women's participation in the workforce, Goldin uncovered rich data from varied sources, from government reports and city directories to health surveys and university registration cards. She combined these data with economic theory to identify the factors affecting women's employment and to explore how we might achieve gender equity today. Her work has had an immense influence on how we understand the labour market, household decision‐making, and gender inequality.

The Summer Drop in Female Employment

Abstract We provide the first systematic account of summer declines in women's labor market activity. From May to July, US women's employment-to-population ratio declines 1.1pp, whereas men's rises; women's hours worked fall 9.8%, twice the decline among men. School closures for summer break provide a unifying explanation. The summer drop aligns with cross-state differences in school closure timing, is concentrated among mothers with young school-aged children, and coincides with increased time spent on childcare. Gender differences both within and across jobs explain gender gaps in summer exits from employment. Women's summer work interruptions contribute to gender gaps in pay.

Examining the Role of Women’s Labor Participation in CO2 Emissions in Saudi Arabia

Women can play an active role in determining environmental quality, and Saudi women’s share in the labor market is increasing considerably. Women's participation is still low in the labor market, and their participation might affect the aggregated environmental situation. Therefore, we explore the effect of Women's Labor Participation (WLP) on CO2 emissions in Saudi Arabia from 1990 to 2022 by employing a cointegration technique. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) is tested and substantiated in the long run, but it is not verified in the short run. WLP raises CO2 emissions. Thus, women's labor market entry has environmental consequences. Moreover, trade openness also contributes to CO2 emissions over a long period of time. Nevertheless, its short-term impact is environmentally pleasant. The study recommends checking environmental problems out of WLP by developing gender-responsive environmental policies. So, gender equality and sustainable growth would be targeted simultaneously.

Gendered processes of recruitment to elite higher educational institutions in mid‐twentieth century Britain

AbstractThis article uses rare and detailed data on matriculants to the University of Oxford during the middle decades of the twentieth century as a prism through which to consider gendered processes of recruitment to elite institutions. The article makes four key claims. First, the broader shifts in middle‐class women's labour market participation in the mid‐century are reflected in patterns of maternal occupation among matriculants, shifting from being predominantly housewives to professionals across the period. Related to this, the fathers of matriculants had similar professions whether their child was male or female, but mothers’ professions varied much more between male and female students. There was much more variation between mothers and fathers of students who attended what we term ‘elite’ schools. Finally, across the mid‐twentieth century, the number of male students from elite schools declined significantly, whereas the number of women students who had attended an ‘elite’ school was much steadier. Given the centrality of Oxford for processes of elite recruitment, these trends in their matriculants will have far wider implications for who gets access to elite positions in the decades after these shifts were occurring, revealing in some ways the continuity of class privilege and the increasingly salient role of mother's occupation in processes of elite reproduction.

The Impacts of Childcare Interventions on Children’s Outcomes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

Center-based childcare programs are expanding rapidly in low-and middle-income countries. The impacts of these programs on women's labor market outcomes are consistently positive, but what are the impacts on children's developmental outcomes? We systematically review 71 studies of center-based childcare interventions that report impacts on children and find that most (93 percent of studies and 81 percent of estimates) have positive point estimates. Girls tend to benefit more than boys, but poorer children do not consistently benefit more or less than wealthier children. These results are consistent across experimental and quasi-experimental studies.

The Influence of COVID-19 on Young Women's Labor Market Aspirations and Expectations in India

Youth unemployment and gender gaps in labor market outcomes are key policy challenges across developing countries. Young job seekers may struggle to find jobs because of their biased beliefs and unrealistic aspirations about the labor market. We study whether exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the labor market aspirations and expectations of female vocational students in Haryana, India. We find that exposure to the pandemic lowered young women's wage aspirations and made them more realistic, especially in rural areas. A potential mechanism for these effects is the decline in rural women's willingness to migrate for work due to the pandemic.

Empowering Women in Labor Market: a Comprehensive Analysis of Recent Legal Developments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract This survey examines the legal developments in Saudi Arabia following the announcement of the Vision 2030 reform plan in 2016. While the primary goal of Vision 2030 is to reduce the country’s dependence on oil and diversify the economy, it has also had a significant impact on women’s rights and empowerment. Legislative changes have been enacted to promote women’s participation in both public and private life, aligning with the core principles of Vision 2030. This Survey analyzes the specific legal reforms aimed at empowering women, including measures to facilitate access to the job market. Additionally, it explores developments related to women’s driving rights, gender segregation, anti-harassment laws, and the new Personal Status Law. These reforms indirectly contribute to women’s empowerment across private and public spheres.

Free, full‐day programming for four‐year‐old children in Nova Scotia and women's labour market outcomes

AbstractDespite significant changes in gender norms over the 20th century and a substantial increase in women's labour force participation, women continue to provide the majority of unpaid child care. This poses a barrier to further improvements in women's labour force participation, especially when child care is limited, inaccessible or unaffordable. This paper explores the impact of substantial increases in child care accessibility and affordability on women's labour market outcomes by exploiting the rollout of free, full‐day programming for four‐year‐old children in Nova Scotia from 2017/18 to 2020/21 using a staggered difference‐in‐differences approach. The program led to a 21 percentage‐point increase in the labour force participation of mothers with four‐year‐old children in Nova Scotia, via increased employment. Unsurprisingly, these impacts are significantly larger for women whose youngest child is four years old.

Female labour participation and infant mortality in Nigeria: implication for the sustainable development goal 3.

Over the time, link between female labour participation and infant mortality has become a subject of debate among scholars and policymakers in developing countries. This subject becomes more critical for a country like Nigeria where there is a persistent challenge to attain minimal global infant mortality rates by 2030, and where over 47% of female working population is unemployed. Against this background, this study utilizes fully modified ordinary least squares to estimate the relationship between female labour participation and infant mortality in Nigeria. The results show that at least 98 children per 1,000 births died in Nigeria between 1990 and 2020. Similarly, over 47% of female working population is currently unemployed in Nigeria. Female labour participation and infant mortality possess a significant negative relationship. Consequently, participation of women in the labour market has a significant effect in reducing infant mortality in Nigeria. In the same vein, female employment contributed to the reduction of infant mortality, though not substantial in nature. As such, the Nigerian policymakers should create a conducive environment that will facilitate participation of more women in the Nigerian labour market so that there will be further reduction of infant mortality in order to achieve the SDG 3.

Mercado de trabalho e gênero. A participação das mulheres nas Atividades Características do Turismo

The insertion of women in the labor market was marked by paradoxes. On the one hand, this pro‑ cess occurred rapidly and haphazardly, understood as fundamental for female emancipation. On the other hand, it was late in coming and established on the basis of sexual division of labor, which assigns domestic work to women and genders activities in the productive sphere, so that this insertion did not substantially change gender hierarchies. In order to understand the participation of women in the formal tourism labor market, secondary data from the Annual Report of Social Information (RAIS) for the year 2019 were used for this research, undertaking a quantitative analysis that showed that the sector did not feminize but is clearly gendered, that is, with activities and occupations differentiated by gender, resulting in the feminization of tasks associated with domestic work, which demand qualities considered innate in women and concentrates them in specific functions, giving rise to processes of horizontal seg

The Unintended Impacts of the One-child Policy Relaxation in China on Women's Labor Market Outcomes

The Unintended Impacts of the One-child Policy Relaxation in China on Women's Labor Market Outcomes

The impact of taking up care tasks on pensions: Results of typical-case simulations for several European countries

Informal care is often accompanied by a reduction or abandonment of professional activity by the caregiver. Therefore, caregiving may be associated with a lower pension for the former caregiver than for people without care obligations. There is a large gender difference in informal care responsibilities, and this may contribute to the gender pension gap. As the impact of care-related labour market decisions depends on the design of the pension system, we carry out a cross-country comparison, in which we analyse the impact of care obligations in countries with high (Luxembourg), middle (Liechtenstein, Belgium, Portugal) and low (Slovenia) gender pension gaps. Using typical-case simulation models, we examine how the impact of care-related events is mediated by pension rules, given women's labour market decisions. To what extent does working part time or interrupting one’s career at the age of 30 or 54 reduce the later pension benefit? How are these losses mitigated by pension credits that are conditional on caregiving? We find that the mitigating effects are generally strongest in Belgium, followed by Luxembourg and Slovenia. Such credits hardly exist in Portugal, while in Liechtenstein they have only a small impact. However, the consequences of either working part time or interrupting work can also be mitigated via general rules in the system that are unrelated to caregiving (such as in Portugal and Liechtenstein). They can, on the other hand, be aggravated by the existence of higher accrual rates for individuals who extend their careers, as in Luxembourg and Slovenia.

Do residential patterns affect women's labor market performance? An empirical study based on CHFS data.

Based on China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) data from 2019, this paper explores the impact of the residential pattern of coresidence with parents on the labor market performance of women in married families with minor children. The study finds that coresidence with parents significantly increases the possibility of female labor market participation and positively impacts women's employment income. To overcome the potential endogeneity problem of residential patterns, this paper uses the Heckman two-step method and the conditional mixed process estimation method (CMP method) for regression, and the conclusions remain robust. The mechanism analysis shows that coresidence with parents has both grandchild care and elderly care factors, which have a spillover effect and a crowding-out effect on female labor market performance, respectively. Since the spillover effect is more significant than the crowding-out effect, coresidence with parents positively impacts women's labor market performance. The heterogeneity analysis shows that in terms of labor force participation rate, coresidence with parents has a more significant impact on women in families with children aged 0-6, women in families without boys, and women in families with employed husbands. In terms of income, coresidence with parents has a more significant impact on women in families with employed husbands. This study provides a new perspective for promoting female labor market performance and can serve as a reference for future policy formulation.

Education and women's empowerment: evidence from Uganda

Abstract The government of Uganda introduced an education reform that eliminated school fees for primary school-age children in 1997. This paper finds that an increase in education, generated by the reform, has a positive impact on women's empowerment. Specifically, an increase in schooling, due to the reform, improves women's involvement in decision making within the household by increasing their likelihood of having a final say on issues related to their own health, about large household expenses, and regarding visits to family or relatives. Education enhances women's cognitive ability but has no impact on women's labor market opportunities and attitudes toward gender-based violence.