Macro-Level Determinants of Paid Domestic Labour Prevalence: A Cross-National Analysis of Seventy-Four Countries

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merita Jokela
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Labour Markets ◽  
Female Employment ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Domestic Labour ◽  
National Analysis ◽  
Paid Domestic Labour

The growing demand for domestic workers has been linked to several global developments, such as an ageing population, income inequality, the growth of women entering labour markets, migration and changes in the provision of care. However, empirical quantitative evidence for these associations is still scarce. This study examines how macro-level factors related to care needs (female employment rates and proportion of aged population), labour markets (proportion of migrants and vulnerable employment) and economic characteristics (gross domestic product, income inequality and level of urbanisation) are associated with the prevalence of paid domestic labour across seventy-four countries. Data are derived from the statistics compiled by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Results show that a higher prevalence of paid domestic workers is particularly associated with greater income inequality, but also with a higher proportion of migrants. The association with income inequality remained unchanged after controlling for six other variables related to the demand and supply of domestic services. These findings suggest that income inequality is a crucial factor in determining the proportion of domestic workers in the labour force.

scholarly journals Thresholds of income inequality that mitigate the role of gender inclusive education in promoting gender economic inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simplice Asongu ◽  
Nicholas Odhiambo
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Gini Coefficient ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Female Employment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Participation ◽  
Sub Saharan

Purpose This study aims to provide the thresholds of inequality that should not be exceeded if gender inclusive education is to enhance gender inclusive formal economic participation in sub-Saharan Africa. Design/methodology/approach The empirical evidence is based on the generalised method of moments and data from 42 countries during the period 2004-2014. Findings The following findings are established. First, inclusive tertiary education unconditionally promotes gender economic inclusion, while the interaction between tertiary education and inequality is unfavourable to gender economic inclusion. Second, a Gini coefficient that nullifies the positive incidence of inclusive tertiary education on female labour force participation is 0.562. Second, the Gini coefficient and Palma ratio that crowd-out the negative unconditional effects of inclusive tertiary education on female unemployment are 0.547 and 6.118, respectively. Third, a 0.578 Gini coefficient, a 0.680 Atkinson index and a 6.557 Palma ratio are critical masses that wipe out the positive unconditional effects of inclusive tertiary education on female employment. The findings associated with lower levels of education are not significant. Practical implications As the main policy implication, income inequality should not be tolerated above the established thresholds for gender inclusive education to promote gender inclusive formal economic participation. Other implications are discussed in the light of sustainable development goals. Originality/value This study complements the existing literature by providing inequality thresholds that should not be exceeded for gender inclusive education to promote the involvement of women in the formal economic sector.

Employing Migrant Domestic Workers in Urban Yemen: A New Form of Social Distinction

Hawwa ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina de Regt
Keyword(s):  
Social Stratification ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Horn Of Africa ◽  
Social Distinction ◽  
Domestic Labour ◽  
New Form ◽  
Paid Domestic Labour ◽  
Middle Class Families ◽  
Migrant Domestic Workers

AbstractThis article argues that employing migrant domestic workers has become a new form of social distinction in urban Yemen. The rapid social, economic and political changes of the past forty years have altered Yemen's system of social stratification. Formerly, one's racial descent and economic background determined the work they performed. Manual and service professions had a very low status and were only performed by the lowest social status groups. Nowadays other forms of social distinction have emerged. Although the economic situation in Yemen has deteriorated since the 1990s, the demand for paid domestic labour has increased. Yemeni women are reluctant to take up paid work as domestics, and middle and upper middle class families in urban areas employ migrant and refugee women, in particular from the Horn of Africa.

scholarly journals Inequality and female labour force participation in West Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-264
Author(s):  
Chimere Okechukwu Iheonu ◽  
Ozoemena Nwodo ◽  
Uchechi Anaduaka ◽  
Ugochinyere Ekpo
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Labour Force Participation ◽  
Female Employment ◽  
Female Labour Force Participation ◽  
Reverse Causality ◽  
Female Labour ◽  
Participation Of Women ◽  
The Impact

This study examined the impact of income inequality on female labour force participation in West Africa for the period 2004 to 2016. The study employed the Gini coefficient, the Atkinson index and the Palma ratio as measures of income inequality. For robustness, the study also utilises female employment and female unemployment as measures of female labour force participation. The study employed the instrumental variable fixed effects model with Driscoll and Kraay standard errors to account for simultaneity/reverse causality, serial correlation, groupwise heteroskedasticity and cross-sectional dependence. The empirical results reveal that the three measures of income inequality significantly reduce the participation of women in the labour force in West Africa. The study also revealed that domestic credit, remittances and female education are positively associated with female labour force participation in the sub-region. Further findings reveal that economic development reduces the participation of women in the labour force in West Africa with the U-shaped feminisation theory not valid for the West African region. The study, however, revealed an inverted U-shaped relationship between inequality and female unemployment. Policy recommendations based on these findings are discussed.

Too Close for Comfort? ‘Race'and the Management of Proximity, Guilt and Other Anxieties in Paid Domestic Labour

2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 152-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Bott
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Initial Phase ◽  
Racial Difference ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Social Hierarchy ◽  
Domestic Labour ◽  
Paid Domestic Labour ◽  
Ongoing Project ◽  
Migrant Domestic Workers

This paper examines relations between migrant domestic workers and their employers in London, and how employers use ideas about ‘race’ and racial difference to manage the difficulties and tensions involved in sharing their houses with employees. Using findings from preliminary interviews with employers (the initial phase of data gathering in a wider ongoing project), it looks at how employers might structure proximity/distance relations; levels of intimacy; social hierarchy and guilt management around a conceptual framework that hinges on notions of ‘difference’ and Otherness.

scholarly journals Women’s Vulnerability to the Economic Crisis through the Lens of Part-time Work in Spain

2021 ◽  
pp. 095001702110012
Author(s):  
Valeria Insarauto
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Labour Supply ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Gender Norms ◽  
Transmission Mechanism ◽  
Female Employment ◽  
Time Work ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Part Time Work

This article studies women’s vulnerability to the economic crisis of 2008 through the lens of part-time work in Spain. It posits that part-time work made the female employment position more fragile by acting as a transmission mechanism of traditional gender norms that establish women as secondary workers. This argument is tested through an analysis of Labour Force Survey data from 2007 to 2014 that examines the influence of the employment situation of the household on women’s part-time employment patterns. The results expose the limited take-up of part-time work but also persistent patterns of involuntariness and underemployment corresponding to negative household employment situations, highlighting the constraining role of gender norms borne by the relative position of part-time work in the configuration of employment structures. The article concludes that, during the crisis, part-time work participated in the re-establishment of women as a family dependent and flexible labour supply, increasing their vulnerability.

scholarly journals The Debt Overhang Hypothesis: Evidence from Pakistan

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Imran Shah ◽  
Irfan Ullah ◽  
Zia Ur Rahman ◽  
Nadeem Jan
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Dynamic Behaviour ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
External Debt ◽  
Unit Roots ◽  
Debt Overhang ◽  
Debt Burden ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Domestic Labour

AbstractThis study investigates the debt overhang hypothesis for Pakistan in the period 1960-2007. The study examines empirically the dynamic behaviour of GDP, debt services, the employed labour force and investment using the time series concepts of unit roots, cointegration, error correlation and causality. Our findings suggest that debt-servicing has a negative impact on the productivity of both labour and capital, and that in turn has adversely affected economic growth. By severely constraining the ability of the country to service debt, this lends support to the debt-overhang hypothesis in Pakistan. The long run relation between debt services and economic growth implies that future increases in output will drain away in form of high debt service payments to lender country as external debt acts like a tax on output. More specifically, foreign creditors will benefit more from the rise in productivity than will domestic producers and labour. This suggests that domestic labour and capital are the ultimate losers from this heavy debt burden.

Combining employment and care-giving: how differing care intensities influence employment patterns among middle-aged women in Germany

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 925-943 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadiya Kelle
Keyword(s):  
Cox Regression ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Unpaid Care ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Care Giving ◽  
Employed Women ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractGiven an ageing population and increased participation by women in the labour force, the relationship between unpaid care and the availability of women to the labour force is gaining in importance as an issue. This article assesses the impact of unpaid care on transitions into employment by women aged between 45 and 59 years. It uses the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) from the years 2001–2014 to estimate Cox regression models for 6,201 employed women. The results indicate that women with higher caring responsibilities and women with lower caring responsibilities are heterogeneous in terms of the socio-economic characteristics that they exhibit: higher-intensity care providers tend to have a lower level of educational attainment and a weaker attachment to the labour force than women with less-intensive caring responsibilities. Furthermore, while women with more-intensive caring roles are highly likely to exit the labour market altogether, female carers with less-intensive roles seem to be able to combine work and care better. These results highlight the importance of providing more affordable institutional and professional care services, especially for low- and medium-income families.

scholarly journals Changing dynamics in female employment around childbirth

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Dirk Vlasblom ◽  
Joop Schippers
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Female Employment ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Participation Rates ◽  
Female Labour ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
The Uk

There is a strong effect of childbirth on female labour supply.This effect, however, is changing over time.This article uses panel data on the last two decades on three European countries (the Netherlands, Germany, the UK) to study changes in female labour force behaviour around childbirth and tries to find an explanation for these changes by looking at differences between the three countries.We conclude that there are substantial differences in participation patterns between the three countries in our study and that policy measures and institutions such as childcare that make the costs of combining work and family lower relative to being a full-time mother seem to increase female participation rates.

scholarly journals The labour market of the Silesian voivodeship (Poland), and its determinants

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 13-23
Author(s):  
Franciszek Kłosowski
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Unemployment Rate ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Technological Factor ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Economic Factor ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Difficult Situation ◽  
High Volatility ◽  
Business Entities

AbstractThe aim of this study was to characterise the labour market of the Silesian voivodeship and its determinants between 2010 and 2012, although in order to show certain trends in changes data from the beginning of the 21st century are also used as a basis whereas from the more forward-looking perspective, projections up until 2020 were used. This market is very important from the nationwide perspective, and this is due to its complexity, size (it concentrates 2 million employed people, that is 14.4% of the whole workforce of Poland) and specificity (industry still plays a crucial role). In order to achieve the objective indicated above, a set of measures relating to the number of employed people, business entities or GDP were used for the purpose of the analysis. The presented material shows the high volatility of the situation on the labour market both at the voivodeship level and individual communities – this is particularly true of the number of employed people and the rate of unemployment. An advantage of the newly created jobs over those that are shed which has been continuously recorded since 2008 and a decrease in the unemployment rate are positive symptoms. Katowice being the largest market and, moreover, characterised by the highest rank range of its impact and lowest unemployment rate have gained a dominant position in the regional labour market. Bielsko-Biała, Tychy, Gliwice and Bieruń-Lędziny County also clearly stand out against the background of other communities. The most difficult situation can be observed in Bytom, Świętochłowice, Piekary Śląskie and in the counties located in the northern part of the voivodeship, that is Częstochowa, Myszków and Zawiercie. Not only today but also in the coming decade, in terms of demand the labour market of the Silesian voivodeship will be strongly affected by its demographic situation; population decline, ageing population, migration, including, in particular, foreign migration will cause a decline in the labour force. By contrast, the labour supply will depend on an economic factor, that is mainly an improvement in the economic situation in Poland and around the world and a reduction in the cost of labour (external determinants). In the next few years the role of innovation (including the technological factor) which will affect the labour demand in terms of quantity and, perhaps to a greater extent, in terms of quality (changes in the structure of the labour market) will become more and more significant.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document