Participation Rate Of Women Research Articles

Who Does the Shopping? – German Timeuse Evidence, 1996–2009

The labor force participation rate of women and men is converging in industrialized countries, but disparities nevertheless remain with respect to unpaid activities. Shopping for household maintenance, in particular, is a time-consuming, out-of-home activity that continues to be undertaken primarily by women, irrespective of their employment status. The present study employs panel methods to analyze, descriptively and econometrically, gender disparities in shopping behavior among couples using data from the German Mobility Panel (MOP) for 1996 to 2009. While women still shop more than men, we find evidence that the differential has narrowed in recent years, particularly among couples with children. Several individual and household characteristics are found to be significant determinants of shopping behavior, whereby employment status and children emerge as the most important single factors. In addition, the possession of a driver’s license coupled with unrestricted car availability increase each partner’s time in shopping.

Who Does the Shopping?

The labor force participation rate of women and men in industrialized countries is converging, but disparities in participation in unpaid activities nevertheless remain. Shopping for household maintenance is a time-consuming out-of-home activity that continues to be undertaken primarily by women, regardless of their employment status. The present study uses panel methods to analyze, descriptively and econometrically, gender disparities in shopping behavior of couples through the use of data from the German Mobility Panel for 1996 to 2009. Although women were still found to shop more than men, the evidence indicated that the differential narrowed in recent years, particularly in couples with children. Several individual and household characteristics were found to be significant determinants of shopping behavior, whereby employment status and children emerged to be the most important single factors. In addition, the possession of a driver's license, coupled with unrestricted car availability, increased the amount of time that each partner spent shopping.

Who does the shopping? German time-use evidence, 1996 - 2009

The labor force participation rate of women and men is converging in industrialized countries, but disparities nevertheless remain with respect to unpaid activities. Shopping for household maintenance, in particular, is a time-consuming, out-of-home activity that continues to be undertaken primarily by women, irrespective of their employment status. The present study employs panel methods to analyze, descriptively and econometrically, gender disparities in shopping behavior among couples using data from the German Mobility Panel (MOP) for 1996 to 2009. While women still shop more than men, we find evidence that the differential has narrowed in recent years, particularly among couples with children. Several individual and household characteristics are found to be significant determinants of shopping behavior, whereby employment status and children emerge as the most important single factors. In addition, the possession of a driver’s license coupled with unrestricted car availability increase each partner’s time in shopping.

Analysing Skills, Education and Wages in Faisalabad: Implications for Labour Market

This study discusses skills of workers, especially educational attainment and technical and vocational training capacity and its relationship with wages in district Faisalabad. The analysis highlights the need to promote technical and vocational skills and education of labour force through greater investment on training programs so that male and female productivity could be increased. Education and vocational training of female needs to be increased in order to increase labour force participation rate of women in the district. Furthermore, education reforms especially in technical and vocational education are necessary which needs to be closely linked to the requirements of the domestic industry, service and agriculture sector in the district.

Funding Freya, Killing Kichijoten: Fertility Rates, Egalitarianism and the Future of the Welfare State in Sweden and Japan

This paper compares social policies in Sweden and Japan to assess how differences in the policy environment can affect women's labour force participation rates and consequently their fertility rates. The degree of egalitarianism in a society affects levels of female labour force participation after the birth of a first child as well as the level of public policy support that exists for women to combine work and motherhood.

Interventions in the workplace to support breastfeeding for women in employment.

In recent years there has been a rise in the participation rate of women in employment. Some may become pregnant while in employment and subsequently deliver their babies. Most may decide to return early to work after giving birth for various reasons. Unless these mothers get support from their employers and fellow employees, they might give up breastfeeding when they return to work. As a result, the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding to the recommended age of the babies would be affected.Workplace environment can play a positive role to promote breastfeeding. For women going back to work, various types of workplace support interventions are available and this should not be ignored by employers. Notably, promoting breastfeeding in a workplace may have benefits for the women, the baby and also the employer. To assess the effectiveness of workplace interventions to support and promote breastfeeding among women returning to paid work after the birth of their children, and its impact on process outcomes pertinent to employees and employers. We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (2 August 2012). Two authors independently assessed all identified studies for randomised controlled trials and quasi-randomised controlled trials that compared workplace interventions with no intervention or two or more workplace interventions against each other. Two authors planned to evaluate the methodological quality of the eligible trials and extract data. There were no randomised controlled trials or quasi-randomised controlled trials identified. No trials have evaluated the effectiveness of workplace interventions in promoting breastfeeding among women returning to paid work after the birth of their child. The impact of such intervention on process outcomes is also unknown. Randomised controlled trials are required to establish the benefits of various types of workplace interventions to support, encourage and promote breastfeeding among working mothers.

THE EFFECTS OF THE 1978 PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION ACT ON FEMALE LABOR SUPPLY*

This article analyzes the effects of the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) on the labor force participation rates of married women by estimating a dynamic model of labor force participation. Results show that the PDA increased the labor force participation rate of pregnant women by 8.2 percentage points, of women with a child less than one year old by 3.4 percentage points, and of women with older children by 1.5 percentage points. Counterfactual policy simulations show that the provision of unpaid leave will increase the labor force participation rate of women with older children by an additional 3.7 percentage points.

Women in the Rural and Industrial Labor Force in Nineteenth-Century Spain

This contribution analyzes determinants of women's labor force participation (LFP) in northwest coastal Spain (Galicia) in the second half of the nineteenth century. The study uses census takers' notebooks from 1857 and 1870 in three municipalities with different economic structures: Nigrán, an agricultural municipality in southern Galicia on the estuary of Vigo, where women predominantly worked in agriculture; Bueu, an industrial town where 80 percent of women were employed in fish processing and related activities; and Coruña, Galicia's biggest city in 1857, where commerce and services were the main economic activities. The sample represents 2 percent of the region's population. The study focuses both on demand – how the local economic structure influenced the entrance of women into the labor market; and supply – how age, civil status, and number of children influenced women's LFP. The industrialization of coastal Galicia impelled women's high participation rates.

Occupational, Marital, and Life-Cycle Determinants of Women's Labor Force Participation in Mid Nineteenth-Century Rural France

The French population census of 1851 is unique among France's nineteenth- and early twentieth-century censuses, as it is the only census to provide information on the market-oriented work of women and children within and outside the home. This study utilizes that information to analyze the demographic, structural, and economic determinants of women's labor force participation in a sample of rural communes in northern France. The data reveal an industrious population in which two-thirds to three-quarters of women in farm families engaged in market-oriented work. The data suggest that women were pushed rather than pulled into the rural labor force, and that poverty was the primary factor driving rural women's participation. The census data throw statistical light on the labor market participation rates of women and children in a preindustrial setting and are likely to produce major revisions in understandings of productivity growth in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century France.

Changes and variations in patterns of gender relations in equestrian sports during the second half of the twentieth century

In order to explain changes and variations in patterns of gender relations over time and space, the article analyses women's and men's participation rates in equestrian sports focusing on equestrianism in the Olympic Games 1952–2000 with an emphasis on Britain and Sweden. More men than women compete in Olympic equestrianism, although the number of female riders has increased over time and gender patterns vary within equestrianism. A majority of competitive dressage riders are women. Also, British women were involved in equestrian sports earlier than Swedish women. A comparison between Britain and Sweden provides insight into how national politics and cultural context shape gender relations. The destabilization of the societal gender order brought about by the First World War and the Second World War may have disrupted the gender order in equestrianism, creating opportunities for some female riders. Furthermore, governmental support or lack thereof is likely to have influenced female and male participation patterns.

Household Interaction and the Labor Supply of Married Women

Changing social norms, as reflected in the interactions between spouses, are hypothesized to affect the employment rates of married women. A model is built in order to estimate this effect, in which the employment of married men and women is the outcome of an internal household game. The type of the household game is exogenously determined as either Classical or Modern. In the former type of household, the spouses play a Stackelberg leader game in which the wife’s labor supply decision is based on her husband’s employment outcome while the latter type of household is characterized by a symmetric and simultaneous game that determines the spouses’ joint labor supply as Nash equilibrium. Females in Modern households are predicted to have higher employment rates than women in Classical households if they have narrower labor market opportunities and/or higher relative risk aversion. The household type is exogenously determined when the couple gets married and is treated as unobserved heterogeneity. The model is estimated using the Simulated Moments Method (SMM) and data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) survey for the years 1983-93. The estimated model provides a good fit to the trends in employment rates and wages. We estimate that 38 percent of households are Modern and that the participation rate of women in those households is almost 80 percent, which is about 10 higher than in Classical households. Meanwhile, the employment rate among men is almost identical in the two types of household.

Can Women Save Japan?

Japan's potential growth rate is steadily falling with the aging of its population. This paper explores the extent to which raising female labor participation can help slow this trend. Using a cross-country database we find that smaller families, higher female education, and lower marriage rates are associated with much of the rise in women's aggregate participation rates within countries over time, but that policies are likely increasingly important for explaining differences across countries. Raising female participation could provide an important boost to growth, but women face two hurdles in participating in the workforce in Japan. First, few working women start out in career-track positions, and second, many women drop out of the workforce following childbirth. To increase women’s attachment to work Japan should consider policies to reduce the gender gap in career positions and to provide better support for working mothers.

Current status of the National Cancer Screening Program for cervical cancer in Korea, 2009

ObjectiveThe National Cancer Screening Program (NCSP) began in 1999. In this report, we evaluate the results of the NCSP for cervical cancer in 2009 and provide participation rates in an organized cervical cancer screening program in Korea.MethodsUsing data obtained from the National Cancer Screening Information System, cervical cancer screening participation rates were calculated. Recall rates, defined as the proportion of abnormal cases among women screened, were also estimated with 95% confidence intervals.ResultsThe target population of cervical cancer screening in 2009 included 4,577,200 Korean women aged 30 and over, 1,349,668 of whom underwent the Papanicolaou smear test (29.5% participation rate). Compared with the participation rate of women covered by the National Health Insurance Program (31.3%), the participation rate of women covered by the Medical Aid Program was lower (18.4%). Participation rates also varied in different age groups (the highest of 39.3% in women aged 50 to 59 and the lowest of 14.4% in those aged 70 and older), and different areas (the highest of 34.1% in Busan and the lowest of 21.5% in Chungnam). The overall recall rate for cervical cancer screening was 0.41% (95% confidence interval, 0.40 to 0.42).ConclusionAccording to our study, efforts to facilitate participation and reduce disparities in cervical cancer screening among Korean women are needed.

Gender and Working Life

A nalysis of occupational segregation by sex and gendered practices in the workplace are complex, multidimensional and contested fields of research and academic discourse. Since the 1960s, we have seen a rapid growth in both quantity and quality of academic work in this field. Earlier simplistic main (male) stream as well as straightforward feminist explanations has been roundly criticised and deconstructed. It is now clear that the study of gender relations in working life is far more complicated than it was believed decades ago. The central question in gender research is how gendered structures – in which men in general have more power, more prestigious positions and higher pay – are reproduced in a world in which demography, economy, production, education and therefore society and family have changed over time. Nordic countries represents an interesting geographical arena to examine gender relations in working life, because many factors, which have been seen in other countries as causes for female subordination, appear in other forms. At present, the labour force participation rate of women in Nordic countries is nearly equal to that of men, but there are still substantial differences. Women are better educated than men, and also, to a large extent unionised. Although these factors make Nordic women stand out globally, gender equality at work or at home has not yet been achieved. The male breadwinner is still a societal norm and a construct, which conditions the behaviour of organisations and individuals in many circumstances in working life. This influence can be obvious or obscure. From the 1990s, research has turned to focus also on the fate of the male workforce during deindustrialisation and global restructuring. Participation rate of men in gainful employment have diminished in all industrialised countries (Crouch; 1999, Walby; 1997). Nordic countries are not an exception to this trend. Men’s difficulties to adapt to a new service- and care society offers new perspectives on the rigid gendered segregation of industries and occupations in Nordic countries (Bergholm; 2011.) (...)

Gender Relations in Singapore Malay Dual-Income Households: (Un)Changing Views and Practices

Over the last four decades the labour-force participation rate of women in Southeast Asia has been steadily increasing. While gender relations are changing in the public sphere as more women play dominant roles in the employment sector, whether gender relations in the domestic sphere are changing is rather ambiguous. In this article, the author looks at gender relations in Singapore Malay dual-income households. She shows that there are existing cultural perceptions of Malays regarding the roles of women and men in the family: i.e. women see to care-giving and men see to breadwinning. She also argues that parallels of this perception can be found at the state level as well. The Singapore government too is of the view that the primary caregiver in the family is the woman. The author illustrates this by using the example of the discourse on the ‘supermom’ in Singapore to show the government’s expectations of women’s role as mother. There is external support which makes Malay women affirm their maternal role. In conclusion, the author suggests that Malay women’s and men’s decisions around the division of labour must be conceived within the wider framework of society. Explanations for persistence of unequal division of labour in Malay dual-income households must take into account state views of gender roles.

L’auto-prélèvement vaginal à domicile pour recherche de papilloma virus à haut risque. Campagne expérimentale du département des Bouches-du-Rhône

The non-participation to cervical screening is the major determinant in the risk of mortality due to cervical cancer. In France, around 40% of women do not participate to regular screening. The cultural or economic barriers for performing screening by Pap test are numerous; one of the most frequent is the refusal of gynaecological examination. A persistent HPVHR infection is a necessary factor for developing cervical cancer. The HPVHR testing has a high sensibility to detect high grade cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN 2-3) and a satisfactory specificity after 30-35 years old. The principal objective of this study was to compare the participation rates in women 35-69 years old who did not perform a Pap test after a first individual invitation, either when an HPVHR auto-test was offered to be performed at home or a second invitation to Pap test was sent. We also evaluated the quality of the two tests, the positive results obtained by age groups and the following histological type of lesions diagnosed in the women with positive results. The study included 9 334 women, 35-69 years old, who did not realized a Pap-test during the 2 previous years and who did not respond at a first individual invitation. These non-responders were randomized into two groups: one group (n=4 934) received a second individual invitation and the other (n=4 400) an offer of receiving and performing an HPV auto-test at home. In women 35-69 years the participation to the second invitation to Pap test was significantly lower (7.2%) than the participation to auto-test (26.4%) with P<0.001. The quality of the two tests was satisfactory; the auto-test was not altered by the postage to laboratory (non interpretable rate=1.4% [CI at 95%=0.65%; 2.15%]. From the 311 Pap tests done, 5.5% (17) were classified “abnormal” (nine ASCUS, one high grade and seven low grades). The follow up of 13 women out of 17confirmed the diagnosis for 1 case of CIN2 and 2 cases of CIN3, 4 women are lost of follow up after 6 months. From the 939 HPVHR tests done, 6.2% (58) were positive. Such positivity rate was not influenced by age. Out of the 58 positive HPVHR cases, 27 only were of the 16 genotype (46.5% [CI 95%=33.7%; 59.3%]). This law rate is a consequence of an inversion of the ratio HPV 16 versus other types in women 60 years old and over. In this group, the follow-up of 36 women diagnosed five cases of CIN1, one of CIN2 and four of CIN3; 22 patients are lost of follow up at 6 months. Globally, in the studied population, an individual recall for pap test allowed to diagnose and treat 3 high grade lesions (7‰) and the dispatching of an auto test allowed the diagnosis and treatment of five high grade lesions (1,4‰), this difference is significant (P = 0.02; OR=0.25 [0.05; 0.97]). The HPVHR auto-test seems to be better accepted than the Pap test in the 35-69 years old women previously non-responders to individual invitation, and the quality of the test is satisfactory. Such a test can be proposed to the 35-69 years old non-participant to Pap test to increase the coverage for cervical screening, if the rates of diagnostic examinations performed in case of an HPVHR positive is sufficiently high.

The Make-Up of a Regression Coefficient: An Application to Gender

In this paper we illustrate the potential use of an old/new methodology which combines the use of concentration curves in order to investigate the components that make up a regression coefficient. The illustration is based on examining gender differences in the effect of age on labor market participation in Italy. Women participation rate is substantially lower than men, but their age profile is similar. The most striking difference is in terms of hours of work: while Italian men increase their work effort until the age of 35, Italian women reduce it until the age of 39. These results do not differ substantially when we split the working population into employed and self-employed. Earnings increase with age for both men and women, however the local regression coefficient is negative for Italian women in the age of 38-42. This evidence is accentuated when we focus on the employees.

Pragmatic randomised controlled trial of preferred intensity exercise in women living with depression.

BackgroundExercise may be effective in treating depression, but trials testing its effect in depressed women are rare.AimTo compare the effect of exercise of preferred intensity with exercise of prescribed intensity in thirty-eight women living with depression.MethodsA Pragmatic RCT of 12 sessions of exercise at preferred intensity compared with 12 sessions at prescribed intensity. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (RSES), General Health Questionnaire 12 (GHQ-12), heart rate (HR), Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale (RPE), Quality of Life in Depression Scale (QLDS), Multi-Dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MDSPSS), SF12 Health Survey and exercise participation rates were compared between groups.ResultsIntervention participants had statistically better BDI (t = 2.638, df = 36, p = 0.006, 95% mean (SD) 26.5 (10.7), CI-20.4 to -2.7, d = 0.86), GHQ-12 (t = 3.284, df = 36, p = 0.001, mean (SD) 8.3 (3.7) 95% CI -6.5 to -1.5, d = 1.08), RSES (t = 2.045, df = 36, p = 0.024, mean (SD) 11.3 (5.8), 95% CI 0.3 -6.4, d = 0.25), QLDS (t = 1.902, df = 36, p = 0.0325, mean (SD) 15.5 (7.9), 95% CI -12.2 -0.4, d = 0.27) RPE scores (t = 1.755, df = 36, p = 0.0475, mean (SD) 9.2 (3.2), 95% CI -.5 - 5.2, d = 0.77) and attended more exercise sessions (t = 1.781, df = 36, p = 0.0415, number of sessions 8 (65%), 95% CI-0.3 -4.8, d = 0.58). SF-12, MSPSS and HR did not differ significantly between groups.ConclusionsExercise of preferred intensity improves psychological, physiological and social outcomes, and exercise participation rates in women living with depression.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00546221

It’s no surprise! Men are not hit more than women by the health consequences of unemployment in the Northern Swedish Cohort

Research often fails to ascertain whether men and women are equally hit by the health consequences of unemployment. The aim of this study was to analyze whether men's self-reported health and health behaviour were hit more by unemployment than women's in a follow-up of the Northern Swedish Cohort. A follow-up study of a cohort of all school leavers in a middle-sized industrial town in northern Sweden was performed from age 16 to age 42. Of those still alive of the original cohort, 94% (n = 1,006) participated during the whole period. A sample was made of participants in the labour force and living in Sweden (n = 916). Register data were used to assess the length of unemployment from age 40 to 42, while questionnaire data were used for the other variables. In multivariate logistic regression analyses significant relations between unemployment and mental health/smoking were found among both women and men, even after control for unemployment at the time of the investigation and indicators of health-related selection. Significant relations between unemployment and alcohol consumption were found among women, while few visits to a dentist was significant among men. Men are not hit more by the health consequences of unemployment in a Swedish context, with a high participation rate of women in the labour market. The public health relevance is that the study indicates the need to take gendered contexts into account in public health research.

Women Empowerment and Good Urban Governance in Iran

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of women in urban management and possibility of a more inclusionary approach to their active participation. Here, first the underlying concepts and principles of good urban governance and special needs of women in urban settings are discussed; next capabilities of Iranian women for active participation in good urban governance are examined. The study shows that women are in utter need to be empowered and to take more active role in their urban lives. Also it shows that Iranian women have used the means available to them to improve their capabilities. It also shows that there are needs for further research to better understand the socio-cultural obstacles to higher participation rate of women in governance. The paper is an original investigation of Iranian women's attempt to improve their lives through the available means to them within a paternalistic society. It shows their success and failures and draws future directions of their latent movement.Keywords: Urban governance, Empowerment, Women, Iran