Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/229211 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2019/108
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
Women have historically been overlooked in research on social mobility. In contrast, new research focuses on the intergenerational transmission of gender attitudes and norms as determinants of women's labour force participation in industrialized countries. This paper discusses the measurement of gender attitudes and reviews research findings. Studies reveal that gender attitudes are a key transmission mechanism for intergenerational economic mobility beyond wealth and other economic factors. Mothers' egalitarian views and less-restrictive gender norms promote greater labour force participation for daughters and daughters-in-law. There are few investigations in developing countries, where restrictive gender attitudes and norms are more pervasive and could potentially have greater impact in shaping women's labour force participation. The paper concludes with a brief case study of women's labour force participation in India, where the direct link between gender attitudes and women's labour market engagement could provide a further explanation for its recent decline.
Subjects: 
gender
gender attitudes
norms
women's labour force participation
JEL: 
J2
J16
Z1
Z13
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-9256-744-6
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.