Women's Work and Economic Development

Using a cross-country dataset and microdata from India and Thailand, we examine how women's work status changes with economic development. Several clear patterns emerge: women's labor force participation first declines and then rises with development; women move from work in family enterpr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of economic perspectives 2000-10, Vol.14 (4), p.141-164
Main Authors: Mammen, Kristin, Paxson, Christina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Economic development
Education
Educational attainment
Employment
Gender
Gross domestic product
India
Labour
Labour force
Men
Occupations
Symposium: Women and the Labor Market
Thailand
Wages
Women
Women's work
Womens education
Womens rights
Workforce
Working women
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Using a cross-country dataset and microdata from India and Thailand, we examine how women's work status changes with economic development. Several clear patterns emerge: women's labor force participation first declines and then rises with development; women move from work in family enterprises to work as paid employees; fertility declines; and gender gaps in education narrow. Women's education levels, and those of their spouses, appear to be important determinants of women's labor market activities. Broad welfare indicators, such as mortality rates and education levels, indicate that women's well-being improves on average with development, both in absolute terms and relative to men.
ISSN:0895-3309
1944-7965
DOI:10.1257/jep.14.4.141