IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/erg/wpaper/907.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Women's Participation in the Egyptian Labor Market: 1998-2012

Author

Listed:
  • Rana Hendy

    (Economic Research Forum)

Abstract

This paper examines the reasons for the persistently low participation of women in the Egyptian labor market over time and across the different economic sectors, using the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey (ELMPS) 2012. This panel dataset allows for an examination of the period leading up to and including the revolution, as it covers three different points in time: 1998, 2006 and 2012. Despite the remarkable increase in women’s educational attainment, which has become higher for women than their male counterparts, participation in the labor market remains relatively low. Confirming widespread opinion, the findings indicate that the January 25 Revolution has had a negative effect on women’s status in the labor market. Labor force participation has decreased, and unemployment has increased. It is thus important to analyze the different determinants of low female labor force participation. These include factors related to the supply of female labor, relating to family circumstances such as marriage, fertility and time use, women’s preferences and reservation wages; as well as the factors related to the demand side, such as the shrinking public sector and discrimination in the private sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Rana Hendy, 2015. "Women's Participation in the Egyptian Labor Market: 1998-2012," Working Papers 907, Economic Research Forum, revised May 2015.
  • Handle: RePEc:erg:wpaper:907
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://erf.org.eg/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/907.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: http://bit.ly/2mZNYH0
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tsani, Stella & Paroussos, Leonidas & Fragiadakis, Costas & Charalambidis, Ioannis & Capros, Pantelis, 2013. "Female labour force participation and economic growth in the South Mediterranean countries," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 120(2), pages 323-328.
    2. 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.
    3. Assaad, Ragui & Krafft, Caroline (ed.), 2015. "The Egyptian Labor Market in an Era of Revolution," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198737254, December.
    4. Asmaa Elbadawy, 2014. "Education in Egypt: Improvements in Attainment, Problems with Quality and Inequality," Working Papers 854, Economic Research Forum, revised Nov 2014.
    5. Stephan Klasen & Francesca Lamanna, 2009. "The Impact of Gender Inequality in Education and Employment on Economic Growth: New Evidence for a Panel of Countries," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 91-132.
    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. Caroline Krafft & Ragui Assaad, 2016. "Inequality of Opportunity in the Labor Market for Higher Education Graduates in Egypt and Jordan," International Economic Association Series, in: Ishac Diwan & Ahmed Galal (ed.), The Middle East Economies in Times of Transition, chapter 5, pages 159-185, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Ragui Assaad & Caroline Krafft, 2023. "Labour market dynamics and youth unemployment in the Middle East and North Africa: Evidence from Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 37(4), pages 519-553, December.
    3. May Gadallah & Maia Sieverding & Rania Roushdy, 2017. "The Effect of Mothers’ Employment on Youth Gender Role Attitudes: Evidence From Egypt," Working Papers 1125, Economic Research Forum, revised 08 Oct 2017.
    4. Ragui Assaad & Rana Hendy & Moundir Lassassi & Shaimaa Yassin, 2020. "Explaining the MENA paradox: Rising educational attainment yet stagnant female labor force participation," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(28), pages 817-850.
    5. Burke Ronald J. & El-Kot Ghada & Wolpin Jacob, 2016. "Sex Differences in Work Experiences and Work Outcomes among Egyptian Managers and Professionals: An Exploratory Study," Journal of Intercultural Management, Sciendo, vol. 8(1), pages 7-29, January.
    6. Abeer Mohamed Ali Abd Elkhalek, 2019. "Economic Development and Participation of Women in Services Sector: Empirical Evidence from Egypt," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(2), pages 155-164, February.
    7. Caroline Krafft, 2020. "Why is fertility on the rise in Egypt? The role of women’s employment opportunities," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(4), pages 1173-1218, October.
    8. Irene Selwaness & Caroline Krafft, 2021. "The Dynamics of Family Formation and Women’s Work: What Facilitates and Hinders Female Employment in the Middle East and North Africa?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(3), pages 533-587, June.
    9. Rim Ben Mouelhi & Mohamed Goaied, 2017. "Women in the Tunisian Labor Market," Working Papers 1160, Economic Research Forum, revised 11 2017.
    10. Ragui Assaad & Caroline Krafft & Irene Selwaness, 2017. "The Impact of Early Marriage on Women’s Employment in the Middle East and North Africa," Working Papers 1086, Economic Research Forum, revised 04 2017.
    11. Seamus Murphy & Diksha Arora & Froukje Kruijssen & Cynthia McDougall & Paula Kantor, 2020. "Gender-based market constraints to informal fish retailing: Evidence from analysis of variance and linear regression," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(3), pages 1-16, March.
    12. Caroline Krafft, 2016. "Understanding the Dynamics of Household Enterprises in Egypt: Birth, Death, Growth and Transformation," Working Papers 983, Economic Research Forum, revised Mar 2016.
    13. Krafft Caroline & Assaad Ragui, 2021. "Introducing the Jordan Labor Market Panel Survey 2016," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 12(1), pages 1-42, January.
    14. May Gadallah & Rania Roushdy & Maia Sieverding, 2017. "Young People’s Gender Role Attitudes Over the Transition to Adulthood in Egypt," Working Papers 1122, Economic Research Forum, revised 07 2017.
    15. Fatma Romeh M. Ali & Shiferaw Gurmu, 2018. "The impact of female education on fertility: a natural experiment from Egypt," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 681-712, September.
    16. Ghada Barsoum & Ahmed Rashad, 2018. "Does Private Higher Education Improve Employment Outcomes? Comparative Analysis from Egypt," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 125-142, March.
    17. Anda David & Rana Hendy, 2016. "Does International Migration Help Them Marry earlier? A Hazard Model for the Case of Egypt," Working Papers 1051, Economic Research Forum, revised 09 Jan 2016.
    18. Heba E. Helmy, 2019. "Thirty Years of Urban Bias: An Estimation of the Rising Disparities in Female Rural and Female Urban Unemployment and Income in Egypt," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 8(3), pages 349-390, December.
    19. 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.
    20. Ragui Assaad & Caroline Krafft & John Roemer & Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, 2016. "Inequality of Opportunity in Income and Consumption in Egypt," Working Papers 1002, Economic Research Forum, revised May 2016.
    21. El-Mallakh,Nelly, 2020. "Internet Job Search, Employment, and Wage Growth : Evidence from the Arab Republic of Egypt," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9196, The World Bank.
    22. Jenny Liu & Sepideh Modrek & Maia Sieverding, 2017. "The mental health of youth and young adults during the transition to adulthood in Egypt," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(56), pages 1721-1758.

    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. Langsten, Ray & Hassan, Tahra, 2018. "Primary education completion in Egypt: Trends and determinants," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 136-145.
    2. Rim Ben Mouelhi & Mohamed Goaied, 2017. "Women in the Tunisian Labor Market," Working Papers 1160, Economic Research Forum, revised 11 2017.
    3. Ahmed Elsayed & Olivier Marie, 2015. "How Does Reducing Years of Compulsory Schooling Affect Education and Labor Market Outcomes in a Developing Country?," Working Papers 944, Economic Research Forum, revised Sep 2015.
    4. Osman, Adam & Speer, Jamin D. & Weaver, Andrew, 2022. "Connections, Referrals, and Hiring Outcomes: Evidence from an Egyptian Establishment Survey," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 342-355.
    5. Assaad, Ragui & Krafft, Caroline, 2015. "Is free basic education in Egypt a reality or a myth?," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 16-30.
    6. Irene Selwaness & Caroline Krafft, 2021. "The Dynamics of Family Formation and Women’s Work: What Facilitates and Hinders Female Employment in the Middle East and North Africa?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(3), pages 533-587, June.
    7. Muhammed QASIM & Muhammed Abrar ul HAQ & Tarik HUSSEIN & Charagh ROSHAN, 2018. "Does Women Well-being Matter for Demand and Development of Children?," EKOIST Journal of Econometrics and Statistics, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 14(29), pages 169-197, December.
    8. Marion Dovis & Patricia Augier & Clémentine Sadania, 2021. "Labor Market Shocks and Youths' Time Allocation in Egypt: Where Does Women's Empowerment Come In?," Post-Print hal-02364648, HAL.
    9. 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.
    10. Ragui Assaad & Caroline Krafft & Dominique J. Rolando, 2017. "The Role of Housing Markets in the Timing of Marriage in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia," Working Papers 1081, Economic Research Forum, revised 04 Oct 2017.
    11. Krafft Caroline & Assaad Ragui, 2021. "Introducing the Jordan Labor Market Panel Survey 2016," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 12(1), pages 1-42, January.
    12. Rulia Akhtar & Muhammad Mehedi Masud & Nusrat Jafrin & Sharifah Muhairah Shahabudin, 2023. "Economic growth, gender inequality, openness of trade, and female labour force participation: a nonlinear ARDL approach," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1725-1752, June.
    13. Ragui Assaad & Samir Ghazouani & Caroline Krafft & Dominique J. Rolando, 2016. "Introducing the Tunisia Labor Market Panel Survey 2014," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-21, December.
    14. Ragui Assaad & Caroline Krafft, 2023. "Labour market dynamics and youth unemployment in the Middle East and North Africa: Evidence from Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 37(4), pages 519-553, December.
    15. El-Mallakh,Nelly, 2020. "Internet Job Search, Employment, and Wage Growth : Evidence from the Arab Republic of Egypt," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9196, The World Bank.
    16. Giscard Assoumou-ella, 2019. "Gender Inequality in Education and per capita GDP: the case of CEMAC Countries," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 39(2), pages 1154-1162.
    17. Jolakoski, Petar & Pal, Arnab & Sandev, Trifce & Kocarev, Ljupco & Metzler, Ralf & Stojkoski, Viktor, 2023. "A first passage under resetting approach to income dynamics," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 175(P1).
    18. Isis Gaddis & Stephan Klasen, 2014. "Economic development, structural change, and women’s labor force participation:," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(3), pages 639-681, July.
    19. Khayria Karoui & Rochdi Feki, 2018. "Does gender inequality reduce growth and development economique? Evidence for a panel from African countries," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(5), pages 2055-2061, September.
    20. 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.

    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:erg:wpaper:907. 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: Sherine Ghoneim (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/erfaceg.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.