Determinants of Female Labor Force Participation - A study of the impact of education and fertility on female labor force participation in OECD countries

Abstract

During the last decades, female participation in the workforce has been increasing in the majority of countries. However, men are still overrepresented in the labor force in the world. Women's participation in the labor force is important, both on a national and an individual level, as more people working leads to an increase in economic growth and welfare for the country as a whole. Moreover, more women working often results in empowerment for women, closes the gender gap and increases equality between the genders. Therefore, this thesis aims to determine how education and fertility affect female labor force participation in the OECD countries and how education is affected by fertility. The analysis is based on previous literature and theories such as the neoclassical growth theory, human capital and the demographic dividend. The study is based on panel data from 36 OECD countries over the years 1991-2019. The results show a significant positive relationship between fertility and female labor force participation rate. Both enrollment in secondary school as well as tertiary school did also show a significant and positive relationship with female labor force participation, however a quite small one. The relationship between fertility and tertiary enrollment did not have any significant result, except when imposing a lag on fertility. We suggest further research on the subject since females in the labor force is a key driver for equality, growth and development.