Publication
Title
Religion and labor force participation of women
Author
Abstract
This article offers an empirical study of the influence of religiosity on womens labor force participation across 48 countries. Using the 2005-wave of the World Values Survey, I examine whether and how the labor force participation of women aged 18 to 55 is affected by the core dimensions of individual religiosity, i.e. religious affiliation, intensity of belief and participation in religious services. The analysis supports the hypothesis of a significant difference in the labor force participation of religious and non-religious women. The likelihood of employment decreases with a persons intensity of belief, but increases with participation in religious activities. Adherents of the Hindu and Muslim faith are the least likely to have paid work. These results are found after controlling for the standard human capital and household characteristics that influence female labor supply. When taking into account country-fixed effects, most religiosity variables loose their significance. This suggests that a countrys institutions, economic structure and socio-political context matter for the way religiosity comes into play in womens work decisions.
Language
English
Source (series)
Research paper / UA, Faculty of Applied Economics ; 2010:7
Publication
Antwerp : UA , 2010
Volume/pages
37 p.
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Record
Identifier
Creation 20.05.2010
Last edited 07.10.2022
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