IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp13572.html

Obstacles to Labour Market Participation among Arab Women in Israel

Author

Listed:
  • Miaari, Sami H.

    (Tel Aviv University)

  • Khattab, Nabil

    (Doha Institute for Graduate Studies)

  • Sabbah-Karkabi, Maha

    (University of Haifa)

Abstract

This study investigates the factors that underlay the low labour force participation rate among Palestinian-Arab women in Israel relative to Jewish women despite the high educational attainment among this group. We focus on four factors that could explain this pattern: (i) socioeconomic factors such as age and education, (ii) culture factors such as the religiosity of the individual-woman and her family, (iii) family structure and related public policies, and (iv) the early retirement of Arab women from the labour market. We find that all four of these factors affect the probability of Palestinian-Arab women participating in the labour market. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for labour market policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Miaari, Sami H. & Khattab, Nabil & Sabbah-Karkabi, Maha, 2020. "Obstacles to Labour Market Participation among Arab Women in Israel," IZA Discussion Papers 13572, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13572
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp13572.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Khoudja, Yassine & Platt, Lucinda, 2018. "Labour market entries and exits of women from different origin countries in the UK," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 85154, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Kerwin Kofi Charles & Jonathan Guryan, 2011. "Studying Discrimination: Fundamental Challenges and Recent Progress," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 3(1), pages 479-511, September.
    3. Grossbard-Shechtman, Shoshana & Neuman, Shoshana, 1998. "The Extra Burden of Moslem Wives: Clues from Israeli Women's Labor Supply," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 46(3), pages 491-517, April.
    4. 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.
    5. Geeta Gandhi Kingdon & Jeemol Unni, 2001. "Education and Women's Labour Market Outcomes in India," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2), pages 173-195.
    6. Mark Hayward & William Grady & Steven McLaughlin, 1988. "Changes in the retirement process among older men in the United States: 1972–1980," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 25(3), pages 371-386, August.
    7. Reimers, Cordelia W, 1985. "Cultural Differences in Labor Force Participation among Married Women," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 251-255, May.
    8. Svenn-Age Dahl & Oivind Anti Nilsen & Kjell Vaage, 2000. "Work or retirement? Exit routes for Norwegian elderly," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(14), pages 1865-1876.
    9. Adebayo Aromolaran, 2004. "Wage Returns to Schooling in Nigeria," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 16(3), pages 433-455.
    10. Marta Tienda & Jennifer Glass, 1985. "Household structure and labor force participation of black, hispanic, and white mothers," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 22(3), pages 381-394, August.
    11. Alisa C. Lewin & Haya Stier, 2002. "Who Benefits the Most? The Unequal Allocation of Transfers in the Israeli Welfare State," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 83(2), pages 488-503, June.
    12. Blundell, Richard & MaCurdy, Thomas & Meghir, Costas, 2007. "Labor Supply Models: Unobserved Heterogeneity, Nonparticipation and Dynamics," Handbook of Econometrics, in: J.J. Heckman & E.E. Leamer (ed.), Handbook of Econometrics, edition 1, volume 6, chapter 69, Elsevier.
    13. Antecol, Heather, 2000. "An examination of cross-country differences in the gender gap in labor force participation rates," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(4), pages 409-426, July.
    14. Stacy Berg Dale & Alan B. Krueger, 2002. "Estimating the Payoff to Attending a More Selective College: An Application of Selection on Observables and Unobservables," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(4), pages 1491-1527.
    15. A. Chevalier & T. K. Viitanen, 2002. "The causality between female labour force participation and the availability of childcare," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(14), pages 915-918.
    16. Alessandra Fogli & Raquel Fernandez, 2009. "Culture: An Empirical Investigation of Beliefs, Work, and Fertility," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 146-177, January.
    17. Armand Totouom & Vincent De Paul Mboutchouang & Hervé Kaffo Fotio, 2018. "The Effects of Education on Labour Force Participation in Cameroon: A Gender Perspective," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 30(1), pages 45-55, March.
    18. Wilbert van der Klaauw, 1996. "Female Labour Supply and Marital Status Decisions: A Life-Cycle Model," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 63(2), pages 199-235.
    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. Ilan Shdema & Moshe Sharabi & Doaa Manadreh & Galit Yanay-Ventura, 2024. "Religiosity and labour market attainments of muslim-arab women in Israel," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 2523-2542, June.
    2. Miaari, Sami H. & Sabbah-Karkabi, Maha & Loewenthal, Amit, 2020. "How Is the COVID-19 Crisis Exacerbating Socioeconomic Inequality among Palestinians in Israel?," IZA Discussion Papers 13716, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    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. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/8813 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Markowsky, Eva, 2022. "Culture, Female Labour Force Participation, and Selective Migrationː New Meta-Analytic Evidence," WiSo-HH Working Paper Series 65, University of Hamburg, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, WISO Research Laboratory.
    3. Julia Bredtmann & Sebastian Otten, 2023. "Culture and the labor supply of female immigrants," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(2), pages 282-300, April.
    4. Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc, 2007. "Social Attitudes and Economic Development : an Epidemiological Approach," Working Papers hal-01066088, HAL.
    5. Bredtmann, Julia & Otten, Sebastian, 2013. "The Role of Source- and Host-Country Characteristics in Female Immigrant Labor Supply," MPRA Paper 44544, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Algan, Yann & Cahuc, Pierre, 2005. "Civic attitudes and the Design of Labor Market Institutions? Which Countries can Implement the Danish Flexicurity Model?," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 0517, CEPREMAP.
    7. Hall, Axel & Zoega, Gylfi, 2014. "Values and labor force participation in the Nordic countries," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 8, pages 1-43.
    8. Raquel Fernandez, 2007. "Women, Work, and Culture," NBER Working Papers 12888, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc, 2005. "The Roots of Low European Employment: Family Culture?," NBER Chapters, in: NBER International Seminar on Macroeconomics 2005, pages 65-109, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/8810 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Sonia Oreffice, 2014. "Culture and Household Decision Making. Balance of Power and Labor Supply Choices of US-Born and Foreign-Born Couples," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 162-184, June.
    12. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/8811 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc, 2005. "The Roots of Low European Employment: Family Culture?," NBER Chapters, in: NBER International Seminar on Macroeconomics 2005, pages 65-109, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc, 2007. "Social Attitudes and Economic Development : an Epidemiological Approach," Working Papers hal-01066088, HAL.
    15. Shelly Lundberg, 2023. "Gender Economics: Dead-Ends and New Opportunities," Research in Labor Economics, in: 50th Celebratory Volume, volume 50, pages 151-189, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    16. Fernández, Raquel, 2007. "Women, Work and Culture," CEPR Discussion Papers 6153, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Kok, Suzanne & Bosch, Nicole & Deelen, Anja & Euwals, Rob, 2011. "Migrant Women on the Labour Market: On the Role of Home- and Host-Country Participation," IZA Discussion Papers 5817, IZA Network @ LISER.
    18. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/8808 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Uzi Rebhun, 2008. "A Double Disadvantage? Immigration, Gender, and Employment Status in Israel," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 24(1), pages 87-113, March.
    20. Chen, Xi & Ge, Suqin, 2018. "Social norms and female labor force participation in urban China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 966-987.
    21. Isaure Delaporte & Hill Kulu, 2024. "Family Formation and Employment Changes Among Descendants of Immigrants in France: A Multiprocess Analysis," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 40(1), pages 1-77, December.
    22. Masao Fukui & Emi Nakamura & Jón Steinsson, 2023. "Women, Wealth Effects, and Slow Recoveries," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 269-313, January.
    23. Algan, Yann & Cahuc, Pierre, 2005. "Civic attitudes and the Design of Labor Market Institutions? Which Countries can Implement the Danish Flexicurity Model?," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 0517, CEPREMAP.
    24. Eschelbach Martina, 2015. "Family Culture and Fertility Outcomes – Evidence from American Siblings," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 235(3), pages 246-267, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies

    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:iza:izadps:dp13572. 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: Mark Fallak (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaalu.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.