Determinants Of Women’s Labor Force Participation: The Case Of Ethiopia
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Date
2021-02
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Women constitute almost half of the Ethiopian population and without hesitation they play an
important role in economic growth and development. However, women‘s labor force
participation is low when compared to their counterpart males in Ethiopia. As a result of this
women‘s economic status is lower compared to male and this implies lower output and lower
economic performance in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia there is a labor force participation gap and it
needs to be investigated seriously. Many studies had been done with this regard but there are
limitations in scope and coverage and in addition to this there are contradicting findings
concerning the factors/challenges that affect women‘s labor force participation. Thus, the
purpose of this research is to find out factors/challenges that determine women‘s labor market in
Ethiopia. In order to identify factors/ challenges that determine women‘s labor force
participation in Ethiopia the Ethiopian Demographic Health survey (EDHS) was employed. The
2011 and 2016 cross sectional data set were employed and these two data sets were pooled so as
to increase sample size and observation. This pooled data set is assumed to help identify
factors/challenges that determine women‘s labor force participation in Ethiopia. For the analysis
of this research paper descriptive and econometric analysis were employed. Specifically
logit/logistic regression model was employed to analysis the econometrics part. The results of the
descriptive statistics indicate that 71.7 percent of women are not participating in labor market
and only 28.3 percent of women participate in the labor market. The results of the logit/logistic
model revealed that education level of women, economic status, number of household members,
husband‘s education, women‘s age, and sex of household head affects women‘s labor force
participation positively and significantly while number of children age five year and under,
pregnancy and place of residence rural negatively and significantly affects women‘s labor force
participation. The results obtained from this study have their own implications on women‘s labor
force participation in Ethiopia. As a result the findings of this research could invite further
investigation on factors/challenges that determine women‘s labor force participation and might
help policymakers to reconsider the issue of women‘s labor force participation and its role to
economic growth and development in Ethiopia
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Keywords
Women‘s labor force participation, economic development, Ethiopia