The Correlates of Educated Women’s Labor Force Participation in Pakistan: A Micro-Study
| Autor: | Ayesha Rashid, Muhammad Zahir Faridi |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2014 |
| Předmět: |
Labour economics
education.field_of_study Poverty Earnings business.industry Population jel:D00 Developing country Context (language use) jel:J21 Human capital Economics Human capital labor force participation earnings function time allocation Punjab Pakistan education Human resources business Socioeconomic status |
| Zdroj: | THE LAHORE JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS. 19:155-184 |
| ISSN: | 1811-5446 |
| DOI: | 10.35536/lje.2014.v19.i2.a6 |
| Popis: | (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)1. IntroductionLabor force participation (LFP) is the act of participating in productive activities to generate income and meet certain social requirements. In Pakistan, the labor force includes all persons aged ten or above "who are working or looking for work for cash or [in] kind, one week prior to the date of enumeration" (Ejaz, 2007). LFP analyses help determine policies for employment and human resource development. Pakistan has a relatively low LFP rate because of the small percentage of women who participate in the workforce-an issue that is of major concern for the country's development prospects.Female labor force participation (FLFP) contributes significantly to socioeconomic development because it provides households with a second source of income and can help reduce poverty. Given that about half of Pakistan's population comprises women, it is important to analyze their role in the labor market and in economic development. Over the past few years, many studies have focused on this area and underscored the significant positive association between FLFP and economic growth (see Ejaz, 2007; Faridi, Sharif, & Anwar, 2009; Faridi, Sharif, & Malik, 2011).In Pakistan, as in many other developing countries, social and cultural norms often mean that women lag behind men in many respects. While women work longer hours than men, much of their work involves care-giving and looking after the household. Gender discrimination, social and cultural restrictions, workplace location, and family responsibilities all determine women's access to the labor market. The financial pressure of poverty or looking after a large family might push women into the labor force (Kazi & Raza, 1991), but factors such as education, training and experience serve to pull women into the labor force (Killingsworth & Heckman, 1986; Mincer & Polachek, 1974). Other variables such as family structure (either joint or nuclear), the education level of a woman's husband and/or parents, the availability of jobs, and workplace location are also potential determinants of FLFP (Faridi et al., 2011).According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (2012), the LFP rate has increased from 50.4 percent in 1999/2000 to 53.4 percent in 2010/11, while the employment-to-population ratio has increased from 46.8 percent (1999/2000) to 50.4 percent (2010/11). Although the FLFP has risen from 13.7 percent in 1999/2000 to 22.2 percent in 2010/11, women's contribution remains comparatively low vis-a-vis other South Asian countries. Women's participation rates also help us better understand the productive and reproductive roles of the female population.The present study aims to determine why some educated women (both married and unmarried) are involved in earning activities while others are not. We analyze how various socioeconomic and demographic variables influence the participation decision of educated women in the district of Multan. Our sample consists of educated women both from rural and urban areas who have completed at least eight years of schooling.1 Such women are expected to be free to choose whether or not to enter the labor market. We also estimate an earnings function and hours-of-work equation for educated women to analyze which factors affect their earnings and working hours.The study is organized as follows. Section 2 reviews the literature at a national and international level. Section 3 describes the data and methodology used, including the sample design and data collection. Section 4 gives the variables selected and model construction. Section 5 presents the results of the estimation and Section 6 provides some concluding remarks and policy recommendations.2. Literature ReviewApart from studies that have looked at FLFP issues at the national and international level, a number of authors have also discussed the economic theory of the household, which is relevant in this context. … |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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