The Structure of Women s Employment in Comparative Perspective

Jennifer Hook () and Becky Pettit ()

No 330, LIS Working papers from LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg

Abstract: One of the most dramatic social transformations of the latter half of the twentieth century involved the massive influx of women into the paid labor force. A central debate in studies of women s labor force participation concerns the influence of demographic and economic structures and institutional conditions on female employment. Single-country studies show consistent relationships between demographic and economic conditions and women s labor force participation. In contrast, comparativists emphasize institutional explanations for observed cross-national variation in aggregate levels of female employment. In this paper we analyze social survey data from 18 countries using multi-level modeling methods in an effort to synthesize structural and institutional accounts for variation in women s employment. Structural conditions including unemployment and service sector growth are important predictors of the overall level of women s employment. The effects of demographic characteristics on women s employment vary significantly across countries, and results suggest differences in policy context are associated with women s employment. In particular, federally supported child care is associated with an increase in the probability of employment among married women and women with children.

Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2002-09
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Published in Social Forces 84, no. 2 (2005): 779-801

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:lis:liswps:330

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