Women’s Labor Market Participation in Bangladesh: A Logistic Regression Analysis

As women around the world struggle for equality, there is a need for measuring their progress. The problem regarding women’s employment is more acute in Bangladesh. The conservative nature of Bangladesh’s society is a significant obstacle in the achievement of their goals in life. The aim of this study is to explore the factors that affect the empowerment of women and determine the factors significantly associated with women’s labor participation in Bangladesh. The study represents the current condition of women participating in the labor market in Bangladesh. A total of 375 structured questionnaires were distributed and 188 usable questionnaires were returned. SPSS version 20.0 was used and the analysis was carried out using binary logistic regression and bivariate analysis. Logistic regression was used to determine the risk factors for women’s labor participation. The findings revealed that women’s labor market participation is influenced by age, education and their partners’ education, as education is also an important factor that changes human behavior significantly. This study has also proven that women with higher levels of education have more employment opportunities.

Working while Caring for Older Adults with Hearing Impairment and Dementia: Evidence from the NSOC

Age-related hearing loss (HL) and dementia are common among older adults. The implications of caregiving for older adults with dementia is documented. Whether the presence of HL modifies these association is unknown. We used data from the 2011 NHATS/NSOC. Hearing loss and dementia were identified among care recipients (CR). Our outcomes included: hours of care provided, and caregiver’s work activities. Among 1,013 caregivers, 456 assisted individuals without HL or dementia (HL-/D-), 229 with dementia (D+), 193 with HL, and 135 with HL and dementia (HL+/D+). In fully adjusted models, as compared to caregivers of HL-/D-, caregivers of D+ spent 39.1 hours more (95% CI: 13.6,64.6) in caregiving, caregivers of HL+/D+ spent 56.6 more hours (95% CI: 25.1,88.1). We found no differences in work activities between CR groups. The presence of HL increases the caregiving needs of adults with dementia. The additional time does not affect the labor participation of caregivers.

Retired Seniors’ Willingness, Behavior, and Influencing Factors of Labor Supply and also on the Importance of Reducing Smoking

Active aging is not only an effective strategy to deal with population aging but also an important method to increase the effective labor supply. The health, education and age of the retired are obviously affect labor supply. Using a typical sample survey, this paper analyzes the willingness and behavior of retired seniors to supply labor, via a labor participation model and a labor supply model. It verifies the direct effects of various factors of active aging on the labor participation decision and the level of labor supply of retired seniors. The results show that age, pension, health, and other income are the main factors that affect the labor participation decision of retired seniors while education level, health, pension, other income, the number of family members in need of care, and the interaction term of health and age are the main factors that affect the level of labor participation of retired seniors. The government should build a policy to tap the labor supply potential of retired seniors, such as proposing legislations to reduce cigarette smoking thus enhancing health of retired people.

Impacts of Light Rail Transit on Labor Participation and Housing Affordability in the U.S.: Longitudinal Analysis Using Propensity Score Matching

Planners and planning scholars have debated the effects of public transit on changes in various employment outcomes. However, few studies have tried to understand how public transit affects employment changes in a community while accounting for housing costs at the same time. As an update to and methodological advance on early studies, this study aims to measure light rail transit (LRT) systems’ impacts on the change in labor participation and housing affordability. This study uses the decennial Census and 5-year American Community Survey (ACS) data at the block group level and conducts propensity score matching in 12 selected LRT systems across the U.S. opened between 2000 and 2010. By comparing growth rates of the average weeks worked and the median gross rent between treatment and control groups, the results show that an introduction of an LRT station increases the average weeks worked—a measure of labor participation—while not raising the median gross rent. Further analysis also shows that the increased average weeks worked after operation of LRT systems is a result of an increase in the percentage of full-time and year-round workers and a decrease in the proportion of part-time and part-year workers. Ultimately, the findings provide planners and policymakers with a better understanding of the effects of LRT systems on the economic stability of urban communities.

American Heterosexual Young Adults’ Reasoning about their Expectations for Future Household Labor Participation

Despite being egalitarian, heterosexual young adults, especially women, predict a gendered division in their future household. The present study investigated 178 American heterosexual young adults’ (M = 20.56, 88.20% European American, 51% ciswomen) ideal and expected future household labor participation, their social attitudes and their justifications for their expectations. Participants were on average egalitarian in their attitudes and reasoning. Across the sample, gender norm reasoning was positively associated with expecting an unequal division, while equality reasoning was associated with expecting an equal division. A final model in which reasoning and attitudes were both included found that only being male and employing equality justifications was positively predictive of expecting an egalitarian division. The present study highlights the value of going beyond social attitudes and turning to investigating young adults’ underlying reasoning for understanding why gender (in)equality is expected and potentially perpetuated despite egalitarian ideals.

Female Labor Force Status and Couple's Marital Satisfaction: A Chinese Analysis

While China has decreasing female labor participation and increasing marital instability, compared to the rest of the world, its female labor participation rate is higher on average. The effect of female labor force status on couples' marital satisfaction, as one of the main factors for evaluating marital quality, has been separately discussed, including extensive margins considering whether women are in the labor market and intensive margins on women working hours per week. This study analyzed data from the 2014 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) using a binary logit model and a stability test. Results showed that the work hours, rather than the occupational status, of women affect marital satisfaction. In addition, regardless of the gender role attitudes held by the couple, marital satisfaction increases when women are in the labor market. This study has retroactively reviewed the effects of women working outside the home on marital quality. The dual roles of Chinese women, as both employee and homemaker, have been socially accepted. However, the requirements of maintaining multiple roles often contradict and present conflicts among the roles, time, and pressure, in the long run, giving rise to marital dissatisfaction.