Offers an analysis of 12 indicators from the ILO Key Indicators of the Labour Market database. The aim is to look for progress or lack of progress towards the goal of gender equality in the world of work and identify where and why blockages to labour market equity continue to exist. Focuses on the relationship of women to labour markets and compares employment outcomes for men and women to the best degree possible given the available labour market indicators.

First published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The transformation of women's lives over the past century is among the most significant and far-reaching of social and economic phenomena, affecting not only women but also their partners, children, and indeed nearly every person on the planet. In developed and developing countries alike, women are acquiring more education, marrying later, having fewer children, and spending a far greater amount of their adult lives in the labor force. Yet, because women remain the primary caregivers of children, issues such as work-life balance and the glass ceiling have given rise to critical policy discussions in the developed world. In developing countries, many women lack access to reproductive technology and are often relegated to jobs in the informal sector, where pay is variable and job security is weak. Considerable occupational segregation and stubborn gender pay gaps persist around the world. The Oxford Handbook of Women and the Economy is the first comprehensive collection of scholarly essays to address these issues using the powerful framework of economics. Each chapter, written by an acknowledged expert or team of experts, reviews the key trends, surveys the relevant economic theory, and summarizes and critiques the empirical research literature. By providing a clear-eyed view of what we know, what we do not know, and what the critical unanswered questions are, this Handbook provides an invaluable and wide-ranging examination of the many changes that have occurred in women's economic lives.

In the present stage of international capitalist development, women are increasingly being drawn into paid employment by multinational and state investment in the Third World. This volume investigates the interrelations between women's participation in the urban wage economy and their productive and reproductive roles in the household and family. It brings together a selection of important recent research on all major regions of the developing world by leading scholars in this emerging field. It argues that the household itself is an important determinant of the character and timing of women's labour force participation, and it assesses the extent to which family patterns can be expected to change as women increasingly work outside the home.

The book presents state of the art research on women's current position in European labour markets. It combines analysis of the latest trends in employment, occupational segregation, working time, unpaid work, social provisions (especially care provisions) and the impact of the financial crisis, with overall assessment of the actual impact of the European Employment Strategy and the specific impact of key policies, such as taxation and flexicurity. .

Sri Lanka has shown remarkable persistence in low female labor force participation rates—at 36 percent from 2015 to 2017, compared with 75 percent for same-aged men—despite overall economic growth and poverty reduction over the past decade. The trend stands in contrast to the country’s achievements in human capital development that favor women, such as high levels of female education and low total fertility rates, as well as its status as an upper-middle-income country. This study intends to better understand the puzzle of women’s poor labor market outcomes in Sri Lanka. Using nationally representative secondary survey data—as well as primary qualitative and quantitative research—it tests three hypotheses that would explain gender gaps in labor market outcomes: (1) household roles and responsibilities, which fall disproportionately on women, and the associated sociophysical constraints on women’s mobility; (2) a human capital mismatch, whereby women are not acquiring the proper skills demanded by job markets; and (3) gender discrimination in job search, hiring, and promotion processes. Further, the analysis provides a comparison of women’s experience of the labor market between the years leading up to the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war (2006†“09) and the years following the civil war (2010†“15). The study recommends priority areas for addressing the multiple supply- and demand-side factors to improve women’s labor force participation rates and reduce other gender gaps in labor market outcomes. It also offers specific recommendations for improving women’s participation in the five private sector industries covered by the primary research: commercial agriculture, garments, tourism, information and communication technology, and tea estate work. The findings are intended to influence policy makers, educators, and employment program practitioners with a stake in helping Sri Lanka achieve its vision of inclusive and sustainable job creation and economic growth. The study also aims to contribute to the work of research institutions and civil society in identifying the most effective means of engaging more women— and their untapped potential for labor, innovation, and productivity—in Sri Lanka’s future.

Labour market institutions, including collective bargaining, the regulation of employment contracts and social protection policies, are instrumental for improving the well-being of workers, their families and society. In many countries, these instituti

An informative and important volume. Johanna Kumlin, European Sociological Review This collection further contributes to our awareness of the complicated intersection of work and family life for women and men and to a few of the socio-economic factors which serve as impediments to its synchronization. It is well written, carefully researched, and rather detailed in its analysis. Susan Cody, Sex Roles This excellent collection deserves to be read, and from cover to cover. . . all the contributions focus on the UK situation over the past 25 years, although some offer comparative exemplars and analysis. This national focus makes this collection an essential resource for those working in the UK (and Europe). But, the general empirical excellence of the collection, as well as the theoretical insights generated in some of the chapters, make this an essential collection for anyone interested in gender and work. Lesley Patterson, Gender in Management: An International Journal There cannot be a richer collection than this on the topic of women, their employment conditions and how they balance home and work life. . . a valuable resource that can be returned to for hard statistics and proven solutions you can use in your own policy creation. Equality and Diversity This collection will be an invaluable resource for anyone concerned with changes in women s employment over the last twenty-five years. Authoritative and up to date, it is simultaneously wide-ranging and focused, analytical and policy oriented. The editors have brought together the knowledge of many renowned experts to reflect on labour market developments and gendered employment. Attention to transitions across the life course is a particularly welcome feature of the book, as is the linking of employment studies with family research. Miriam Glucksmann, University of Essex, UK How is women s employment shaped by family and domestic responsibilities? This book, written by leading experts in the field, examines twenty-five years of change in women s employment and addresses the challenges facing women today. The authors offer an innovative analysis of how global changes including new migration processes, educational expansion, transnational labour markets, technological advances and the global economy affect women s labour market experiences. They tackle issues relevant for future change, including gender inequalities and ethnic diversities, and confront contentious questions such as what is meant by work life balance. The book provides new empirical research that both advances our understanding of the challenges posed by women s employment in our changing society and draws out the policy lessons that could improve economic and social wellbeing. Providing dynamic analysis of employment family inter relationships, Women and Employment will be of great relevance to social scientists and academics interested in employment and family as well as policymakers concerned with changing women s employment.

This book evaluates the global labour market in the context of gender equality, and the associated policies and regulations, particularly in developing markets, to recommend measures for encouraging gender equality. It exposes the barriers that women employees encounter as well as some of the societal and workplace policies they, specifically, are subject to. Important themes within this topic include participation rates, the looming gap in hourly pay, availability of part-time and full-time positions, value, and social status associated with jobs held by men and women. The book examines how global gender policy objectives, such as gender equality in careers, gender balance in decision-making, and gender dimensions in research, can be incorporated into policy frameworks. The book analyzes the gendered nature of assumptions, processes and theories. The juxtaposition between family and work, tradition and modernity, and dependency and autonomy, clearly still seems to be misunderstood. Therefore, the book asks whether work improves women’s positions in society and/or changes their roles in their families. The authors explore and uncover the connections among employment, entrepreneurship, migration economies, and gender global labour markets and provide helpful solutions to the perceptions surrounding women’s status, risks, and inequality that limit their economic participation. This insightful read provides comprehensive details on a variety of themes and encourages further research on policies that are key to promoting gender equality. The book will appeal to postgraduate students and researchers of labour and feminist economics, the economics of gender, women’s studies and sociology.

"Women's Employment and the Capitalist Family" responds to the growing recognition of the economic, social, and electoral importance of women. This original study draws upon an interdisciplinary approach which fully incorporates both empirical and historical material. Ben Fine provides a critical assessment of the literature which examines the changing labor market participation of women. He explores such issues as the domestic labor debate, the role of patriarchy theory, gender and labor market theory, the capitalist family, and the position of working women in the economy. He uses demographic and historical factors such as the movement towards mass consumption through factory production to explain the timing of women's increasing dependence on waged work. Although economic issues are the main focus of the book, it also considers non-economic contributing factors, making full use of historical and empirical material. "Women's Employment and the Capitalist Family" is written from a marxist-feminist perspective, and argues convincingly that this approach offers a greater challenge to the orthodoxies within economics and sociology which have as yet been untouched by postmodern theories. Despite its theoretical focus, the book avoids technicalities and will be accessible to a wide, interdisciplinary audience.