Virtually all British women nowadays participate in the labour market at some point of their adult lives, but few do so continuously. In Discussion Paper No. 40, Research Fellow Heather Joshi uses the Women and Employment Survey to identify factors which determined whether or not a woman was a member of the labour force at the time of the survey in 1980. Joshi also attempts to quantify the effects of these factors on the supply of labour to the cash economy. Her estimates are useful not only in forecasting the female labour force, but also in illuminating the role of employment in women's lives and of women in the economy.
Joshi used multiple regression analysis to measure various influences on female labour force participation. The chances of current labour force participation were most strongly reduced by the presence of young children, low earning power and high levels of alternative income. Other factors which significantly reduced participation of women who are neither students nor permanently disabled themselves are: belonging to the older generation; being married to a non-working husband; and being responsible for an adult dependent. Joshi found that other factors had little effect on participation in paid work; these included marital status, earlier family history, education, and fertility intentions.
Joshi's findings are consistent with other economic research on the determinants of female labour supply and suggest that such models, which are often estimated only for married women, are also relevant to the non-married. Joshi introduces a novel method of estimating women's earning potential. The information collected on the work history of each woman in the survey is used to construct an index of that woman's earning potential, based on her best-paid occupation and her cumulated years of work experience.
Heather Joshi discussed this research and its implications for policy at a CEPR lunchtime meeting on 18 January. A full report of the meeting appears in this Bulletin.

Participation in Paid Work: Multiple Regression Analysis of the Women and Employment Survey
Heather Joshi

Discussion Paper No. 40, January 1985 (HR)