Cited by 177Gender, Labor, and Family DynamicsWork-Family Balance ChallengesEmployment, Labor, and Gender Studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 61 of the 61 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 2 of the 24 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

Drivers of Female Labour Force Participation in the OECD

Open access
Olivier Thévenon·2013·OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers

Abstract

This paper analyses the response of female labour force participation to the evolution of labour markets and policies supporting the reconciliation of work and family life. Using country-level data from the early 1980s for 18 OECD countries, we estimate the influence of labour market and institutional characteristics on female labour force participation, and full-time and part-time employment participation. The relationship (interactions, complementarity) between different policy measures is also analyzed, as well as potential variations in the influence of policies across different Welfare regimes. The results first highlight how the increase in female educational attainment, the expansion of the service sector the increase in parttime employment opportunities have boosted women’s participation in the labour force. By contrast, there is no such clear relationship between female employment rates and the growing share of public employment. Employment rates react to changes in tax rates, in leave policies, but the rising provision of childcare formal services to working parents with children not yet three years old is a main policy driver of female labour force participation. Different policy instruments interact with each other to improve overall effectiveness. In particular, the coverage of childcare services is found to have a greater effect on women’s participation in the labour market in countries with relatively high degrees of employment protection. The effect of childcare services on female full-time employment is particularly strong in Anglophone and Nordic countries. In all, the findings suggest that the effect of childcare services on female employment is stronger in the presence of other measures supporting working mothers (as, for instance paid parental leave) while the presence of such supports seems to reduce the effectiveness of financial incentives to work for second earners. The effect of cash benefits for families and the duration of paid leave on female labour force participation also vary across welfare regimes.

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1787/5k46cvrgnms6-en

Cites

61 of 61 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

55 Own result · 53 No basis given · 41 Own interpretation · 18 Own method · 6 No full text of the sources · 3 Not checked yet · 2 Sources not found · 1 Supported · 1 Supported so far

Show all 129 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 29
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 5
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 21
51 of 51
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Women are often the second earner in households, earning less than their partner.

    “Women are often the”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The efficiency of each policy instrument is dependent on the sum of effects that all institutions may have together on labour market decisions.

    “One way to test this assumes that the efficiency of each instrument would be dependent on the sum of effects that all institutions may have together on labour market decisions.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The efficiency of each policy instrument is linked in a non-linear manner with the sum of the direct effects of all institutions.

    “One way to test for systemic interaction is to assume that the efficiency of each policy instrument is linked in a non-linear manner with the sum of the direct effects of all institutions, as expressed by the following equation:”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Part-time work is often the result of labour supply decisions, although it can be shaped by demand-side constraints.

    “That is because part-time work is often the result of labour supply decisions, although it can be shaped by demand-side constraints.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The decision regarding the use of formal childcare is to some extent simultaneous with the choice between work and inactivity.

    “Because the decision regarding the use of formal childcare is to some extent simultaneous with the choice between work and inactivity, the use of childcare enrolment rates as a regressor introduces a risk of bias in the estimated coefficients.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Unemployment and birth rates are potentially endogenous.

    “Other potentially endogenous variables -also instrumented by their lagged values -are unemployment and birth rates.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Formal childcare services are relatively scarce in Continental countries (except France).

    “where formal childcare services are relatively scarce (except in France).”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Labour markets in English-speaking countries are flexible in terms of moving in and out of the labour force and adjusting working hours to fit family needs.

    “where labour markets are flexible in terms of moving in and out of the labour force as well as adjustment of working hours to better fit family needs and constraints, such as high childcare costs.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Increased leave durations may make employers hesitant to hire many women of childbearing age.

    “as increased leave durations may make employers hesitant to hire many women of childbearing age.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    In Continental and Southern European countries, there are considerable formal childcare constraints and flexible labour market opportunities are more limited than in Anglophone countries.

    “In these countries, there are considerable formal childcare constraints while flexible labour market opportuinities are more limited than in Anglophone countries”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Until recently many Anglophone countries included (and Ireland still does) categorical income support for sole parents until their dependent children were in their teens.

    “Until recently many Anglophone countries included (and Ireland still does) categorical income support for sole parents until their dependent children were in their teens.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The marginal effect of policy variables is conditional on countries' Welfare State context.

    “where the marginal effect ( ) of policy variables is now assumed to be conditional on countries' Welfare State context”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The effect of labour market characteristics and policies is homogeneous across countries.

    “This fixed-effect approach assumes that the effect of labour market characteristics and policies is homogeneous across countries (a hypothesis which will be further discussed below).”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Common shocks (recessions, context of production changes) affect all countries in the same way.

    “yearly time dummies control for common shocks (recessions, context of production changes) which are assumed to affect all countries in the same way”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    There are no unobserved common 'factors' whose effect may differ across countries.

    “it also implicitly assumes that there are no unobserved common 'factors' whose effect may differ across countries.”
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Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

8 of 8

Citations

Cites

Show all 59 references

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [3]3. Aoki M. (1994), "The Contingent Governance of Teams: Analysis of Insitutional Complementarities", International Economic Review, 35: 657-76.
  2. [45]45. Thévenon, O. (2006), "Régimes d'Etat Social et convention familiale: une analyse des regulations emploi- famille", Economies et Sociétés, série Socio-économie du travail, Vol. 27, No. 6, pp. 137-71.

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Metadata

Authors
Thévenon, O.
Affiliations
Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques (FR)
Corresponding author
Olivier Thévenon
Venue
OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers
Published
2013-05-23
ISSN
1815-199X (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1852261349
Cited by
177
References
59
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 43 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 9
Type
report
Language
en
Open access
Locations
OECD social employment and migration working papers (publishedVersion)
Funders
European Commission
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Work-Family Balance Challenges
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Industrial relations › Employment, Labor, and Gender Studies
Keywords
female labour force participation, work-family balance, childcare services, paid parental leave, part-time work, welfare regimes, employment protection, tax rates, women's educational attainment, service sector growth, public sector employees, working mothers

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