Increasing women's labor force participation is important to sustainable economic development, especially in economies with highly educated women and an aging population. Women's participation varies across transition countries, driven by such economic and social factors as traditional views of gender roles and limited government support for caregivers. Still, in all countries there is clear scope for policies aimed at increasing women's participation. In particular, in countries where women's educational attainment is already high, policies to support a better work–life balance and female entrepreneurship look particularly promising.
Increasing women's labor force participation is important to sustainable economic development, especially in economies with highly educated women and an aging population. Women's participation varies across transition countries, driven by such economic and social factors as traditional views of gender roles and limited government support for caregivers. Still, in all countries there is clear scope for policies aimed at increasing women's participation. In particular, in countries where women's educational attainment is already high, policies to support a better work−life balance and female entrepreneurship look particularly promising.
Analyse der Bestimmungsfaktoren der Erwerbsbeteiligung männlicher Arbeitskräfte in den USA im Zeitraum 1948 bis 1976. Der Verfasser zeigt, daß Sozialversicherungsprogramme eine wesentliche Rolle spielten.
Abstract In the United States, approximately 20% of employed mothers with children under 5 use grandparents as their primary source of childcare. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79), we investigate whether the availability of this source of childcare has a causal effect on mother's labor force participation. We compare Ordinary Least Squares 0(OLS), women's Fixed Effects (FE) and Instrumental Variables (IV) estimates. We find that OLS estimates overestimate the effect of grandparental childcare on young mothers' labor force participation and are not significantly different from IV estimates. In our preferred specification, FE, we find that the availability of grandparental childcare significantly increases mothers' labor force participation by 9 percentage points and that this effect is largely driven by minority, single or never married mothers. Our findings suggest that policies that raise retirement ages might increase older cohorts' labor participation rates at the expense of young women's through childcare availability.
In developing countries today children play significant economic roles. Field studies show that children in many developing countries are economically active in both rural and urban settings. This cross-national study investigates the economic roles of children in contemporary developing and developed countries. Dependency theory guides hypotheses that a less developed country's dependence on the more developed core countries (measured by multinational corporation penetration and commodity concentration) serves to create a labor market within the less developed country where children are economically active. Additional hypotheses regarding the influence of female labor force participation on increased child labor and urban growth on increased child labor are also tested. Regression analyses, based on demographic data from 70 developed and developing countries, reveal that dependency variables (multi-national corporation penetration and commodity concentration) are not positively related to children's labor force participation. Urban growth and female labor force participation however, are positively related to children's labor force participation. These results suggest an important link between women's roles and the roles of children and the influence of urbanization on children. The utility of dependency theory to the understanding of children's labor force activity is also challenged.
AbstractThis paper primarily aims to identify the impact of religion on currently working women in India by considering the National Family Health Survey 2015–2016 data. It also incorporates several socioeconomics variables as controls. The models are estimated with aggregate as well as disaggregated urban–rural as well as zonal data. The results suggest that compared to the Hindus, Christian and Buddhist women have higher odds of labor force participation and Muslim and Sikh women have lower odds. Extensive analysis of the data indicates that economic well‐being among the Sikhs and the status of being married among the Muslims could be the primary factors responsible for their lower workforce participation. Additionally, lower age, lower education, better economic well‐being, the status of being married, large family size, having only one child, male household heads, and younger children are associated with lower workforce participation. Furthermore, education seems to be more accessible to women from urban areas and wealthier sections. Based on these observations, the study recommends devising policies for greater provisions for higher education in rural areas and among the poorer sections of society. Also, imparting awareness and developing an understanding of the importance of female labor force participation is crucial to improve women's labor force participation in India.
