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Two Approaches to Measuring Women's Work in Developing Countries: A Comparison of Survey Data from Egypt

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  • Ray Langsten
  • Rania Salen

Abstract

Keyword and activities list approaches to measuring women's work are compared. The two approaches were applied to the same population of women in Egypt in two consecutive surveys. The widely used keyword approach underestimates women's work rates, disproportionately excluding poor and poorly educated women, particularly those working in nonformal jobs. The activities list approach captures these missed economic activities and also the multiple jobs women hold simultaneously. Survey measurement of women's work must be improved to fully account for women's contributions to economic life and to better understand the relationship of work to such other important variables and processes as reproductive change, child welfare, and economic development.

Suggested Citation

  • Ray Langsten & Rania Salen, 2008. "Two Approaches to Measuring Women's Work in Developing Countries: A Comparison of Survey Data from Egypt," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 34(2), pages 283-305, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:popdev:v:34:y:2008:i:2:p:283-305
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1728-4457.2008.00220.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mahdī, ʻĀliyah., 2002. "Towards decent work in the informal sector the case of Egypt," ILO Working Papers 993661433402676, International Labour Organization.
    2. Carr, Marilyn. & Chen, Martha Alter., 2002. "Globalization and the informal economy : how global trade and investment impact on the working poor," ILO Working Papers 993541723402676, International Labour Organization.
    3. repec:ilo:ilowps:354172 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

    1. Anja Karlsson FRANCK & Jerry OLSSON, 2014. "Missing women? The under-recording and under-reporting of women's work in Malaysia," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 153(2), pages 209-221, June.
    2. Kathryn Yount & Sarah Zureick-Brown & Rania Salem, 2014. "Intimate Partner Violence and Women’s Economic and Non-Economic Activities in Minya, Egypt," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(3), pages 1069-1099, June.
    3. Caroline Krafft & Ragui Assaad, 2020. "Employment’s Role in Enabling and Constraining Marriage in the Middle East and North Africa," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(6), pages 2297-2325, December.
    4. Ambler, Kate & Herskowitz, Sylvan & Maredia, Mywish K., 2021. "Are we done yet? Response fatigue and rural livelihoods," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    5. Flatø, Martin & Kotsadam, Andreas, 2014. "Droughts and Gender Bias in Infant Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa," Memorandum 02/2014, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    6. Krafft Caroline & Assaad Ragui & Rahman Khandker Wahedur, 2021. "Introducing the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey 2018," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 12(1), pages 1-40, January.
    7. Ragui Assaad & Caroline Krafft, 2013. "The Evolution of Labor Supply and Unemployment in the Egyptian Economy: 1988-2012," Working Papers 806, Economic Research Forum, revised Nov 2013.
    8. Nadia Diamond-Smith & Omaima El Gibaly & David Bishai, 2015. "Inter-generational co-residence and women's work and leisure time in Egypt," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 33(31), pages 909-938.
    9. Yount, Kathryn M. & Crandall, AliceAnn & Cheong, Yuk Fai, 2018. "Women’s Age at First Marriage and Long-Term Economic Empowerment in Egypt," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 124-134.
    10. Bussemakers, Carlijn & van Oosterhout, Kars & Kraaykamp, Gerbert & Spierings, Niels, 2017. "Women’s Worldwide Education–employment Connection: A Multilevel Analysis of the Moderating Impact of Economic, Political, and Cultural Contexts," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 28-41.
    11. IWASAKI, Erina & SAITO, Osamu, 2025. "Estimating the sectoral shares of the labor force in Egypt, 1897–2017, with special focus on female labor," Discussion Paper Series 759, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    12. Yount, Kathryn M. & Cheong, Yuk Fai & Maxwell, Lauren & Heckert, Jessica & Martinez, Elena M. & Seymour, Gregory, 2019. "Measurement properties of the project-level Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 1-1.
    13. Rania Salem & Yuk Fai Cheong & Kathryn M. Yount, 2018. "Is Women’s Work a Pathway to their Agency in Rural Minya, Egypt?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 807-831, April.
    14. Muller,Miriam & Sousa,Liliana Do Couto, 2020. ""She Helps Me All the Time" : Underestimating Women's Economic Engagement in Rural Honduras," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9217, The World Bank.
    15. Ragui Assaad & Caroline Krafft, 2013. "The Egypt labor market panel survey: introducing the 2012 round," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-30, December.
    16. Alma Boustati, 2020. "The Evolution of Female Labour Force Participation in Jordan," Working Papers 236, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.
    17. Ragui Assaad & Caroline Krafft & Shaimaa Yassin, 2018. "Comparing retrospective and panel data collection methods to assess labor market dynamics," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-34, December.
    18. Virginie Comblon & Anne-Sophie Robilliard, 2015. "Are female employment statistics more sensitive than male ones to questionnaire design? Evidence from Cameroon, Mali and Senegal," Working Papers DT/2015/22, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    19. Eunice Mueni Williams & Sabu Padmadas & Heini Väisänen, 2022. "Women's economic empowerment in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from cross-national population data," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 47(15), pages 415-452.
    20. Colin C. Williams & Friedrich Schneider, 2016. "Measuring the Global Shadow Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16551, June.

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