IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/boe/boeewp/221.html

Female labour force participation in the United Kingdom: evolving characteristics or changing behaviour?

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Guti'rrez-DomSnech
  • Brian Bell

Abstract

The working-age female participation rate in the United Kingdom increased by 7 percentage points between 1984 and 2002. The purpose of this paper is to quantify how much of the rise reflects changes in the socio-demographic structure of the female population and how much can be attributed to changes in behaviour or other uncontrolled factors. The paper uses a time series of cross-sections from the Labour Force Survey, and applies a method of growth accounting. The results show that, between 1984 and 2002, changes in the structure of the female population contributed to two thirds of the growth in female participation, whereas one third is explained by changes in behaviour or other factors.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Guti'rrez-DomSnech & Brian Bell, 2004. "Female labour force participation in the United Kingdom: evolving characteristics or changing behaviour?," Bank of England working papers 221, Bank of England.
    • Handle: RePEc:boe:boeewp:221
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/research/Documents/workingpapers/2004/WP221.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joshi, Heather E & Layard, Richard & Owen, Susan J, 1985. "Why Are More Women Working in Britain?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(1), pages 147-176, January.
    2. Richard Blundell & Alan Duncan & Julian McCrae & Costas Meghir, 2000. "The labour market impact of the working families’ tax credit," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 21(1), pages 75-103, March.
    3. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1, January.
    4. Brian Bell & James Smith, 2004. "Health, disability insurance and labour force participation," Bank of England working papers 218, Bank of England.
    5. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October.
    6. Richard Blundell & Alan Duncan & Costas Meghir, 1998. "Estimating Labor Supply Responses Using Tax Reforms," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(4), pages 827-862, July.
    7. Richard Blundell & Monica Costa Dias & Costas Meghir & John Van Reenen, 2001. "Evaluating the employment impact of a mandatory job search assistance program," IFS Working Papers W01/20, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    8. Richard Blundell & John Ham & Costas Meghir, 1989. "Unemployment and Female Labour Supply," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Joan Muysken & Chris Neubourg (ed.), Unemployment in Europe, chapter 1, pages 9-36, Palgrave Macmillan.
    9. Blundell, Richard & Ham, John & Meghir, Costas, 1998. "Unemployment, discouraged workers and female labour supply," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 103-131, June.
    10. Phil Evans, 1998. "Why has the female unemployment rate fallen so much in Britain?," Bank of England working papers 87, Bank of England.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Giovanni Razzu & Carl Singleton & Mark Mitchell, 2020. "On why the gender employment gap in Britain has stalled since the early 1990s," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(6), pages 476-501, November.
    2. Wamuthenya, W.R., 2010. "Economic crisis and women’s employment rate in a Sub-Saharan African country," ISS Working Papers - General Series 19427, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    3. Razzu, Giovanni & Singleton, Carl & Mitchell, Mark, 2018. "On why gender employment equality in Britain has stalled since the early 1990s," MPRA Paper 87190, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Kristin E. Smith, 2014. "The Ups and Downs in Women's Employment: Shifting Composition or Behavior from 1970 to 2010?," Upjohn Working Papers 14-211, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    5. Jan Kleibrink & Maren M. Michaelsen, 2012. "Reaching High: Occupational Sorting and Higher Education Wage Inequality in the UK," Ruhr Economic Papers 0377, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    6. Avdullah Hoti, 2017. "Participation, Discouraged Workers and Job Search: Evidence for Kosova," Athens Journal of Business & Economics, Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER), vol. 3(3), pages 239-262, July.
    7. Kleibrink, Jan & Michaelsen, Maren M., 2012. "Reaching High: Occupational Sorting and Higher Education Wage Inequality in the UK," Ruhr Economic Papers 377, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    8. Patralekha Ukil, 2015. "Effect of Fertility on Female Labour Force Participation in the United Kingdom," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 9(2), pages 109-132, May.
    9. Saridakis, George & Marlow, Susan & Storey, David J., 2014. "Do different factors explain male and female self-employment rates?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 345-362.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Olivier Bargain & Kristian Orsini & Andreas Peichl, 2014. "Comparing Labor Supply Elasticities in Europe and the United States: New Results," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(3), pages 723-838.
    2. Rolf Aaberge & Ugo Colombino, 2014. "Labour Supply Models," Contributions to Economic Analysis, in: Handbook of Microsimulation Modelling, volume 127, pages 167-221, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    3. Olivier Bargain & Kristian Orsini & Andreas Peichl, 2012. "Comparing Labor Supply Elasticities in Europe and the US: New Results," Working Papers halshs-00805736, HAL.
    4. Heather Antecol & Michael D. Steinberger, 2013. "Labor Supply Differences Between Married Heterosexual Women And Partnered Lesbians: A Semi-Parametric Decomposition Approach," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(1), pages 783-805, January.
    5. Peter Haan, 2007. "Intertemporal Labor Supply Effects of Tax Reforms," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 669, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    6. Blundell, Richard & Macurdy, Thomas, 1999. "Labor supply: A review of alternative approaches," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 27, pages 1559-1695, Elsevier.
    7. Callan, Tim & Wren, Anne, 1994. "Male-Female Wage Differentials: Analysis and Policy Issues," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number GRS163.
    8. Olivier Bargain & Andreas Peichl, 2016. "Own-wage labor supply elasticities: variation across time and estimation methods," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-31, December.
    9. de Muizon, Marc Jourdain, 2018. "Why do married women work less in the UK than in France?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 86-96.
    10. Michael E. Martell & Peyton Nash, 2020. "For Love and Money? Earnings and Marriage Among Same-Sex Couples," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 260-294, September.
    11. Richard Blundell & Mike Brewer & Marco Francesconi, 2008. "Job Changes and Hours Changes: Understanding the Path of Labor Supply Adjustment," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(3), pages 421-453, July.
    12. José Labeaga & Xisco Oliver & Amedeo Spadaro, 2008. "Discrete choice models of labour supply, behavioural microsimulation and the Spanish tax reforms," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 6(3), pages 247-273, September.
    13. repec:pri:rpdevs:vogl_family_size is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Bargain, Olivier B. & Orsini, Kristian & Peichl, Andreas, 2011. "Labor Supply Elasticities in Europe and the US," IZA Discussion Papers 5820, IZA Network @ LISER.
    15. Alan S Duncan & Mark N Harris & Anthony Harris & Eugenio Zucchelli, 2013. "The Influence of Psychological Well-being, Ill Health and Health Shocks on Single Parents' Labour Supply," Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre Working Paper series WP1307, Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School.
    16. Olivier Bargain & Marco Caliendo & Peter Haan & Kristian Orsini, 2010. "“Making work pay” in a rationed labor market," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(1), pages 323-351, January.
    17. Tom Buchanan & Adian McFarlane & Anupam Das, 2024. "Gender Differences in Desired Alone Time Among Canadian Parents of Young Children," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 19(1), pages 1-19, February.
    18. Ina GANGULI & Ricardo HAUSMANN & Martina VIARENGO, 2014. "Closing the gender gap in education: What is the state of gaps in labour force participation for women, wives and mothers?," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 153(2), pages 173-207, June.
    19. JongSoo Lee & Bit Na Choi, 2023. "A Study on Regional Return to Education in South Korea: Comparison of Male and Female Wages," WORKING PAPERS SERIES IN THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS 202311, University of Kansas, Department of Economics.
    20. Anna Kurowska & Michal Myck & Katharina Wrohlich, 2012. "Family and Labor Market Choices: Requirements to Guide Effective Evidence-Based Policy," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1234, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    21. Katie R. Genadek & Sarah M. Flood & Joan Garcia Roman, 2016. "Trends in Spouses’ Shared Time in the United States, 1965–2012," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(6), pages 1801-1820, December.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:boe:boeewp:221. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Research (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/boegvuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.