Female Labor Force Participation: An International Perspective

W 0omen constitute half of any countrys human endowment. In most countries, however, women contribute less than Y men toward the value of recorded production-both quantitatively, in labor force participation, and qualitatively, in ed-ucational achievement and skills. The underutilization of female labor has obvious implications for economic welfare and growth. Several factors, both economic and noneconomic, are responsible for this. In particular, the participation of women in the labor force appears to depend much more on the social environment than is the case for men. This dependency blurs the observed relationship be-tween female behavior in the labor market and such economic vari-ables as wages and incomes. This article looks at the conceptual and statistical limitations of the most widely used term of labor supply: the labor force participation rate. It then reviews some theories of womens involvement in paid production and examines the broad levels, patterns, and trends of female participation rates in different countries. The labor force participation rate is, as the name suggests, the The Labor ratio of two numbers. The numerator refers to the individuals who Force are economically active-the labor force. This number includes those Participation who are employed and those who are unemployed but seek work. Rate The denominator consists of those who can work-those already in the labor force plus the inactive population. The inactive popula-