Individual Choice or Policies? Drivers of Female Employment in Europe

Lone Engbo Christiansen, Huidan Lin, Joana Pereira, Petia Topalova and Rima Turk Ariss

No 2016/049, IMF Working Papers from International Monetary Fund

Abstract: Female labor force participation has increased markedly in many European countries during the past decades. Nonetheless, participation rates remain low in some economies, and a significant gender gap persists in most countries. Using micro-level data to control for factors that influence personal choice, we re-examine the determinants of female employment in Europe. The results highlight the importance of positive attitudes towards women working and individual characteristics such as years of education and number of children. However, even after controlling for these factors, policies are also key drivers of female employment.

Keywords: WP; country; policy; wage; family allowance; Labor force participation; labor markets; gender gaps; International Social Survey Programme; childcare provision; employment rate; gender employment gap; employment decision; Women; Gender diversity; Employment; Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 44
Date: 2016-03-07
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=43770 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2016/049

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/pubs/ord_info.htm

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IMF Working Papers from International Monetary Fund International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC USA. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Akshay Modi ().