
25 UNU-WIDER articles, publications, projects, experts...
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Journal Article
Social norms and female labor participation in BrazilPart of Journal Special Issue Female Autonomy and Women’s Welfare
Working Paper
Social norms as a barrier to women’s employment in developing countriesThis paper discusses cultural barriers to women’s participation and success in the labor market in developing countries. I begin by describing how gender norms influence the relationship between economic development and female employment, as well as...
Working Paper
Marriage, work, and migrationTraditional gender norms can restrict independent migration by women, preventing them from taking advantage of economic opportunities in urban non-agricultural industries. However, women may be able to circumvent such restrictions by using marriage...
Working Paper
The rise in women’s labour force participation in MexicoWe estimate the relative importance of alternative labour supply and demand mechanisms in explaining the rise of female labour force participation over the last 55 years in Mexico. The growth of female labour force participation in Mexico between...
Journal Article
Female labor force participation in sub-Saharan AfricaFemale labor force participation rates have been stagnating despite rising female education in sub-Saharan Africa since the turn of the millennium. Using representative and repeated census data from a heterogeneous sample of 13 sub-Saharan African...
Research Brief
Are women’s labour force participation rates improving in sub-Saharan Africa?Several sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries have achieved substantial economic growth in the past 30 years. Likewise, access to education has considerably expanded, as reflected in rising enrolment rates for both men and women. Female labour force...
Working Paper
Young women’s transitions from education to the labour market in EthiopiaWe investigate the causes of the gender disparity in labour market participation in Ethiopia using iterative quantitative and qualitative longitudinal analysis through the whole childhood of the individual into early adulthood, from age 8 up to age...
Policy Brief
The economic gains of reducing the employment gender gap in MoroccoMiddle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, including Morocco, currently record the lowest rates of female labour force participation (FLFP) in the world. These rates — between 20-30% in 2019 — appear substantially low in comparison to Western...
Blog
Persistent gender roles in South Africa deprive women of leisure time
In most countries, traditional gender roles within the household are still common due to the prevalence and persistence of patriarchal systems. These...
Working Paper
The economic gains of closing the employment gender gapThe present paper sheds new light on the growth implications of gender inequalities in the Moroccan labour market. We confront two different approaches. The first one is based on firm data to estimate gender complementarity in production and uses...
Working Paper
Female labour force participation in sub-Saharan AfricaFemale labour force participation rates have stagnated in sub-Saharan Africa since the turn of the millennium. This paper aims to explain this aggregate pattern by decomposing it into the labour supply behaviour of different birth cohorts and age...
Blog
Supply or demand? Exploring the mechanisms behind the rise of female labour force participation in MexicoAt the global level, gender gaps in labour force participation have narrowed and over half a billion women have joined the workforce in the last 30...
Working Paper
Maternal employment and children’s outcomesIs maternal employment beneficial or harmful for child development? Maternal employment generates income, which is needed to provide core inputs for children’s health and education. However, maternal employment comes at the cost of time spent with...
Working Paper
The gender employment gap: the effects of extended maternity leave policy in Viet NamThis study seeks to determine the effect on the gender employment gap and women’s employment of the extension of maternity leave from four months to six months in Viet Nam’s 2012 Labor Code. To identify this effect, labour market outcomes of groups...
Working Paper
Socioeconomic and cultural drivers of women’s formal work in rural GhanaWe study socioeconomic indicators of female labour force participation in off-farm formal employment in a subsistence agriculture setting in northern Ghana, where a new commercial farm provides a positive demand shock for low-skilled labour. We use a...
Working Paper
Heterogeneous impact of internet availability on female labour market outcomes in an emerging economyGreater female labour market participation has important positive implications not only for women’s empowerment and the well-being of their families but also for the economy they live in. In this paper, we examine the various effects of internet...