Facets of the Gender Gap in Labour Force Participation and Economic Empowerment Disruption

According to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data, the average employment for January 2019-March 2020 was 403 million, which declined to 282 million in April 2020 and recovered steadily thereafter to reach 393million by August 2020. In India, female labour force participation is abysmally poor and has declined over the years, despite a rise in education. The causes for this are complex and, aside from objective factors, include a whole variety of social and cultural aspects. One of the factors causing this is the social mentality of women becoming homemakers. Furthermore, the scarcity of schooling and work-oriented courses, the lack of mobility, and sexism in the workplace have been deterrents to women's access to the public workspace. Therefore, initiatives that aim to fix this void need to be holistic. Legislation alone is not enough, and to close this gap, all stakeholders should join hands. The chapter attempts to analyse facets of the gender gap in labour force participation and economic empowerment disruption through the pandemic.

Differences and determinants of female entrepreneurship across selected EU countries: some empirical evidence for the period 2010–2018

There is a wide differentiation in the level of female entrepreneurship across European Union countries. The literature emphasises the importance of various intrinsic (i.e. education, experience, human capital, access to capital resources) and extrinsic (i.e. influencing the level of entrepreneurship) factors. The purpose of this article is to empirically analyse the relationship between the level of female self-employment and the economic and social determinants of female labour force participation for 19 EU member states. This article uses panel data techniques to empirically analyse the relationship between the female self-employment and the following: gross domestic product per capita, female unemployment rate, total fertility rate, crude marriage rate, people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by age, gender wage gap (median) for full-time employees, masculinization index. Simple statistical methods and Pearson correlation coefficient were used in this paper. An econometric model was created to verify the factors affecting the level of female self-employment. Statistical data collected by Eurostat and the OECD were used to conduct the analyses. Due to limited data availability, the study covers the years 2010–2018. Gretl and Excel were used to conduct the analysis.

Gender and Social Mobility

Women have historically been overlooked in research on social mobility. In contrast, new research focuses on the intergenerational transmission of gender attitudes and norms as determinants of women’s labour force participation in industrialized countries. This chapter discusses the measurement of gender attitudes and reviews research findings. Studies reveal that gender attitudes are a key transmission mechanism for intergenerational economic mobility beyond wealth and other economic factors. Mothers’ egalitarian views and less-restrictive gender norms promote greater labour force participation for daughters and daughters-in-law. There are few investigations in the Global South, where restrictive gender attitudes and norms are more pervasive and could potentially have greater impact in shaping women’s labour force participation. The chapter concludes with a brief case study of women’s labour force participation in India, where the direct link between gender attitudes and women’s labour market engagement could provide a further explanation for its recent decline.

Nowcasting Register Labour Force Participation Rates in Municipal Districts Using Survey Data

In the Netherlands, very precise and detailed statistical information on labour force participation is derived from registers. A drawback of this data source is that it is not timely since definitive versions typically become available with a delay of two years. More timely information on labour force participation can be derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Quarterly figures, for example, become available six weeks after the calendar quarter. A well-known drawback of this data source is the uncertainty due to sampling error. In this article, a nowcast method is proposed to produce preliminary but timely nowcasts for the register labour force participation on a quarterly frequency at the level of municipalities and neighbourhoods, using the data from the LFS. As a first step, small area estimates for quarterly municipal figures on labour force participation are obtained using the LFS data and the unit-level modelling approach of Battese, Harter and Fuller (1988). Subsequently, time series of these small area estimates at the municipal level are combined with time series on register labour force participation in a bivariate structural time series model in order to nowcast the register labour force participation at the level of municipalities and neighbourhoods.

Employment outcomes and experiences of people with seeing disability in Canada: An analysis of the Canadian Survey on Disability 2017

Background Many individuals with disabilities face barriers to meaningful employment. Legislation has been put in place to ensure employment equity for individuals with disabilities in Canada. However, little is known about the employment profile and experiences of people with seeing disabilities. Objectives The objectives of our research study were to explore the employment rates of people with seeing disabilities in Canada, the factors associated with being employed, and supports and barriers that affect their work participation. Methods We used the nationally representative data from the Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD) 2017, collected by Statistics Canada. The CSD is a national cross-sectional survey of Canadians 15 years of age and above who face a functional limitation due to a health-related condition, representing more than 6 million (n = 6,246,640) Canadians. Our analyses focused on people who reported having a seeing disability. A subset of the complete dataset was created, focusing on individuals with a seeing disability. Weighted descriptive analyses were performed using SPSS. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted for individuals between 25–64 years of age to identify predictors of employment. Results Out of the estimated 892,220 working-age adults (25–64 years) with a seeing disability who were represented by the survey, 54% were employed, 6% were unemployed and 40% were not in the labour force. Early onset of seeing disability (OR: 1.33; 95% CI: 1.32–1.35), less severe seeing disability (OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.49–1.53), education above high school (OR: 2.00; 95% CI: 1.97–2.02) and daily use of the internet (OR: 2.46; 95% CI: 2.41–2.51) were positively related with employment. The top three employment accommodations that were needed and were made available included: modified work hours (45%); work from home (38.5%) and a modified workstation (37%). The top three needed but least available accommodations were technical aids (14%), communication aids (22%) and a computer with specialized software or adaptation (27%). Overall, 26% reported that an accommodation was required but was not made available by the employer. While 75% of individuals with a seeing disability were out of the labour force due to their condition, the remaining identified barriers that prevented them from working which included (top 3): (i) too few jobs available (20%); (ii) inadequate training/experience (19%), (iii) past attempts at finding employment were unsuccessful (19%). Conclusion Adults with seeing disability in Canada experience lower labour force participation than the general population. Rigorous programs are required to assist them with the job search, job retraining and workplace accommodations. It is important for governments to improve efforts towards inclusive education and develop strategies that promote digital literacy of employees and job seekers with visual impairments. Although accessibility legislations have been put in place, programs should be established that provide accessibility solutions for various employers, enabling them to hire individuals with different abilities.

COVID-19 and the Australian labour market: how did older Australians fare during 2020?

Background In analysing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labour market, attention has focussed on younger people, leaving a research gap when it comes to outcomes for older Australians aged 50 years or over, in terms of employment, unemployment, underemployment and hours worked. Aims To describe levels of labour force participation, unemployment, underemployment, and hours worked by older workers and job seekers during 2020. Data and methods Using Australian Bureau of Statistics data, we perform descriptive analyses of variations in labour market outcomes by geographic areas, public and private sector employment, industry of employment and demographic characteristics. Results Older employment fell in April but recovered by December. As the full-time share initially increased, average hours worked decreased due to reductions in hours offered to workers, increasing the underemployment rate. There was little recovery of employment in metropolitan Melbourne due to prolonged lockdown conditions. Of the largest industries, retail trade and manufacturing were worst affected. Conclusions By December 2020, employment levels for older workers in some sectors had recovered from the initial downturn caused by the pandemic. However, for older workers in some industries, there is a major concern about their potential for future employment.

Gender and Work in South Africa

This chapter provides an overview of women’s participation in the post-apartheid South African economy. It documents rising labour-force participation among women, as well as an increase in the share of total and high-skilled employment held by women. However, it also highlights some of the persistent challenges, among them that women’s labour-force participation, access to (high-skilled) employment, and earnings remain well below men’s using the most recent labour force data available. A key constraint to women’s success in the labour market is the additional responsibility they face in the home. The chapter uses data from various sources to show that women retain primary responsibility for the household and the provision of care in South Africa. Finally, attention is drawn to how the Covid-19 crisis has not only exposed the value of this unpaid labour to society, but also the difficulty of performing this work alongside the demands of paid work.

Could New Zealand's Domestic Purposes Benefit in Conjunction with the Tax Systems Impact Low-Income Women's Decision Regarding Family Formation and Childbearing?

<p>This thesis provides a descriptive analysis of whether New Zealand's Domestic Purposes Benefits (DPB) and some Family Assistance programmes, mainly Family Support, creates incentives for low-income women to become single mothers. This concern arises from two sources: firstly, eligibility criteria for many of these programmes require recipients to be single parents and secondly, assessment units for the welfare and income tax systems are different, resulting in relatively high Effective Marginal Tax Rate (EMTR) for low-income earners when they form a union with their partners. The Household Labour Force Participation Survey (HLFS) was used in the study over the period 1986 to 2004, during which significant welfare policy changes were introduced. If welfare policies do affect incentives for child-bearing and partnering among actual or potential welfare recipients, we would expect these policy changes to have had an impact on these outcomes. Our results indicate that low educated women demonstrated a continuous decline in partnering up rates, whereas high educated women revealed an increase in the partnering up rates over this period. Nevertheless, there were no fluctuations in partnering up rates among low-educated women, in response to these policy changes. Also, the pattern in the childbearing behaviour is similar among low and high educated women. Hence, without a comprehensive regression analysis, this study suggests that the New Zealand DPB and FS, in conjunction with the income tax system, might not have had an impact on actual or potential beneficiaries' decisions to form a union with their partner and to have a dependent child.</p>