No description available.

Comparative political economy studies of welfare states have focused on either general processes of modernization or the evolution of different welfare state 'regimes' - such as the social democratic, liberal and conservative types identified by Esping-Andersen. Variations in women's role in the workforce tend to be seen as closely allied with 'welfare regime' types or associated with welfare state modernization. But there are relatively few empirical studies in the political economy field of how, within the overall policy configuration of the state, welfare policies influence women's labour force participation. First, using a quantitative analysis of country-level data for 17 OECD countries from 1960 to 1987, this study identifies clusters of countries consistent with the Esping-Andersen classification, which share distinct patterns of women's role in the workforce and have different paths of development over time. However, the analysis shows that important anomalies exist and key questions remain unresolved. Second, case studies are used to analyse policy configurations and developments in women's employment over time. 'Core' examples are drawn from each main welfare regime - the USA (liberal), Sweden (social democratic) and Germany (conservative). The Netherlands is examined as a key anomalous case. Third, the lessons from the empirical analyses are used to reconsider aspects of the 'social democratic' and 'modernization' models of welfare state development. Across the period as a whole female labour force participation has grown in most countries. The most rapid growth of women's involvement has taken place in core countries with either liberal or social democratic welfare configurations (the USA and Sweden). There has been less change in 'conservative' countries (such as Germany) and in the Netherlands despite its 'social democratic' classification. Yet apparent linkages between labour market trends and welfare policies do not necessarily stand up to close over-time or comparative analysis. In the USA there are only weak connections between welfare policies and women's changing role in the labour market, whereas the two factors are closely and directly linked in Sweden. Particular policies contributed to expanding women's employment in Germany, but the overall policy configuration has bolstered broader patterns of social stratification inimical to women playing a larger role. In the Netherlands, welfare policies have clearly restrictive effects on women's participation in job markets, although some growth has occurred since the 'welfare explosion' of the 1960s. These findings show that welfare states' impacts on women's employment do not fit neatly into the 'modernization' or 'social democratic' models. 'One path fits all' models perform particularly poorly, but even differentiated analyses of 'welfare state regimes' pay insufficient attention to the location of social welfare within the state's overall policy configuration. A clearer distinction between the 'welfare state' construed as form of state and as a particular sector of state activity can help comparative analysis eliminate the residual influence of 'one-path' models, and provide more compelling analyses of variations in women's employment trajectories.

No description available.

The Italian labour market seems unable to allocate a significant fraction of the working age population efficiently. The gap between the employment rate in Italy and in the other developed economies is foremost attributable to the low employment rates of youth, seniors and women. The low employment rates of these three groups are due to several factors limiting both labour demand and labour supply. For women in particular, constraints on the allocation of time play a crucial role in determining labour supply behaviour. In this thesis we try to understand how non-standard time constraints may affect the behaviour of women, and their labour supply in particular. In the first chapter we study how the constraints on work-schedules affect the time allocation of workers in Italy. For a large fraction of employed individuals the work schedule is very rigid, as a consequence of outdated industrial relations. In order to understand whether constraints on the work-schedule produce significant effects on the allocation of time of wage/salary workers in Italy, we exploit the intrinsic differences between them and self employed workers. In fact, one of the main features of self-employment is the greater control over the days worked and daily hours of work. We use the last wave of the Italian time use survey (2008-2009) to provide evidence that the distribution of hours of work of self-employed workers is much more dispersed than that of wage/salary workers and that average standard deviation of their daily minutes of work within a week is significantly larger. Then we show that self-employed workers respond more to shocks affecting the value of leisure. We show that on sunny days the increase of leisure and the reduction of work are significantly larger for self-employed workers. We address whether unobservable characteristics, such as preferences for leisure and for outdoor activities in particular, determine this differential response and find no evidence for this. We interpret the differential response to weather shocks as a consequence of the time constraints on work-schedules. This evidence is relevant for female labour force participation since in Italy a large fraction of women choose not to work because they would otherwise not be able to reconcile family and work responsibilities. In the second chapter we study the Added Worker Effect (AWE). The retrospective questions provided by the new labour force survey allow identification of transitions between labour market states in a 12 month time-window. Since we are able to identify the reason for the husband’s job loss, we distinguish between transitions associated with low or high income losses. We find that both the wife’s probability of joining the labour force and that of finding a job increase when the husband is dismissed or he is forced to quit his job for health reasons, two cases of usually high income losses. Moreover, we estimate the wife’s full transition matrix between labour market states and we find that the loss of a job by a husband increases the probability that his wife will enter the iv labour force. Finally, we provide some descriptive evidence that time constraints can also impact the magnitude of the AWE. Focusing on mothers with young children, we show that the estimated AWE is positively correlated with the regional provision of child care services. The third chapter is based on the time use files of the Canadian General Social Survey. We study how Sunday shopping deregulation changed the time allocation of women, with a particular focus on those with children. The empirical analysis relies on the provincial variation in the time of the policy change. Our results suggest that women with children, who usually face stringent time constraints, respond to the policy change by substituting weekday shopping with Sunday shopping. The amount of time these women save from doing shopping on weekdays allows them to increase their minutes of work. On Sunday, shopping increases at the expense of leisure. The main result of this chapter is that the labour supply of mothers may change even when non-obvious constraints on the allocation of time change.

The Italian labour market seems unable to allocate a significant fraction of the working age population efficiently. The gap between the employment rate in Italy and in the other developed economies is foremost attributable to the low employment rates of youth, seniors and women. The low employment rates of these three groups are due to several factors limiting both labour demand and labour supply. For women in particular, constraints on the allocation of time play a crucial role in determining labour supply behaviour. In this thesis we try to understand how non-standard time constraints may affect the behaviour of women, and their labour supply in particular. In the first chapter we study how the constraints on work-schedules affect the time allocation of workers in Italy. For a large fraction of employed individuals the work schedule is very rigid, as a consequence of outdated industrial relations. In order to understand whether constraints on the work-schedule produce significant effects on the allocation of time of wage/salary workers in Italy, we exploit the intrinsic differences between them and self employed workers. In fact, one of the main features of self-employment is the greater control over the days worked and daily hours of work. We use the last wave of the Italian time use survey (2008-2009) to provide evidence that the distribution of hours of work of self-employed workers is much more dispersed than that of wage/salary workers and that average standard deviation of their daily minutes of work within a week is significantly larger. Then we show that self-employed workers respond more to shocks affecting the value of leisure. We show that on sunny days the increase of leisure and the reduction of work are significantly larger for self-employed workers. We address whether unobservable characteristics, such as preferences for leisure and for outdoor activities in particular, determine this differential response and find no evidence for this. We interpret the differential response to weather shocks as a consequence of the time constraints on work-schedules. This evidence is relevant for female labour force participation since in Italy a large fraction of women choose not to work because they would otherwise not be able to reconcile family and work responsibilities. In the second chapter we study the Added Worker Effect (AWE). The retrospective questions provided by the new labour force survey allow identification of transitions between labour market states in a 12 month time-window. Since we are able to identify the reason for the husband’s job loss, we distinguish between transitions associated with low or high income losses. We find that both the wife’s probability of joining the labour force and that of finding a job increase when the husband is dismissed or he is forced to quit his job for health reasons, two cases of usually high income losses. Moreover, we estimate the wife’s full transition matrix between labour market states and we find that the loss of a job by a husband increases the probability that his wife will enter the iv labour force. Finally, we provide some descriptive evidence that time constraints can also impact the magnitude of the AWE. Focusing on mothers with young children, we show that the estimated AWE is positively correlated with the regional provision of child care services. The third chapter is based on the time use files of the Canadian General Social Survey. We study how Sunday shopping deregulation changed the time allocation of women, with a particular focus on those with children. The empirical analysis relies on the provincial variation in the time of the policy change. Our results suggest that women with children, who usually face stringent time constraints, respond to the policy change by substituting weekday shopping with Sunday shopping. The amount of time these women save from doing shopping on weekdays allows them to increase their minutes of work. On Sunday, shopping increases at the expense of leisure. The main result of this chapter is that the labour supply of mothers may change even when non-obvious constraints on the allocation of time change.

This thesis addresses two main gaps within social science research: the relative neglect of the household within general labour market theories and the relative neglect of the impact of life course changes in approaches to female labour force participation. In empirical terms, nowhere is the later gap more clear than the current research on female employment in the Middle East. Therefore, this thesis aims to identify changing female employment patterns in Jordan with particular reference to young single urban women. Unlike previous generations, women currently marry at a later age, have relatively high education levels and have access to expanding employment opportunities. The result is that women are experiencing a new life course trajectory: single employed adulthood. Given that Jordanian society has traditionally been based on rigid gender and generation hierarchies, the study explores the implications of the new trends at two main and inter-related levels: the workplace and the household. The research methodology utilises both quantitative and qualitative tools and consists of an employer survey of 36 private sector institutions, a questionnaire survey of 302 households, and a sub-sample of 40 semi-structured interviews with young women. At the workplace level it explores the bases of gender differentiated recruitment and occupational segregation and how this structures young women's work opportunities. At the household level the investigation assesses the characteristics that are likely to influence young female labour supply and considers inter-generational patterns of household income management. Synthesising these perspectives, the research then goes on to explore the ways in which normative patriarchal relations are responding to young women's prolonged single adulthood as well as young women's perceptions of their work. One of the main findings of the research is that single adulthood may have expanded opportunities and the aspirational horizon for some young women but it had not brought about a significant redistribution of either power relations or gender divisions in society at large.

ABSTRACT: Temporary migration, especially men moving to their place of work, was an intrinsic feature of the former Apartheid system in South Africa. Since the demise of Apartheid an increasing proportion of women have also been migrating to their place of work, and oscillating between work place and home. Temporary migration can be defined as oscillating migration between a home base and at least one other place, usually for work, but also for other reasons like education. This study demonstrates that in the Agincourt study population, in the rural northeast of South Africa, adult female temporary migration is an increasing trend. By conducting a survival analysis, the study evaluates the mortality outcomes, specifically infant and child mortality rates, of children born to female temporary migrants compared with children of non-migrant women. Based on the findings presented we accept the null hypothesis that there is presently no discernable impact (positive or negative) of maternal temporary migration on infant and child mortality. There seems to be a slight protective factor associated with mother’s migration when tested at a univariate level. However, through multivariate analysis, it is shown that this advantage relates to the higher education status of migrating mothers. When women become tertiary educated there is a survival advantage to their children and these women are also more likely to migrate. The study highlights greater child mortality risks associated with settled Mozambicans (former refugees) and unmarried mothers. Both of these risk factors reflect the impact of high levels of social deprivation.

A história de vida e trabalho das cortadoras de cana foi tema do presente estudo, tendo como sujeito as mulheres conveniadas ao sindicato de Guariba, interior de São Paulo na região de Ribeirão Preto. O objetivo geral foi evidenciar o contexto de vida e trabalho das mulheres cortadoras de cana-de-açúcar. O estudo foi de natureza qualitativa, utilizando-se o método da História Oral de Vida como recurso para a coleta de dados, que foi obtida em 2011. Constituíram-se sujeitos dez trabalhadoras; foram identificadas duas categorias que emergiram das suas falas: Contexto de Vida e Contexto do Trabalho na Vida. Na categoria Contexto de Vida emergiram as sub-categorias: Migração, Relacionamento Familiar, Sofrimento, Prazer, Estratégias Defensivas e Perspectivas Futuras. Na categoria Contexto do Trabalho na Vida emergiram as sub-categorias: Trabalho Infantil e do Adolescente; Gravidez e Trabalho, Ambiente de Trabalho e Alterações à Saúde, Relacionamentos no Trabalho, Desconhecimento e Aprendizagem no Trabalho, Sofrimento no trabalho e Prazer no Trabalho. A maior parte das trabalhadoras é parda, com ensino fundamental incompleto, casada, com dois e três filhos respectivamente. Suas condições de vida evidenciaram que a maioria procede da região sudeste do Brasil e que possui relacionamentos familiares agressivos e violentos. As condições de trabalho mostraram que a maioria trabalhou enquanto era criança e/ou adolescente; durante a gravidez cortava a cana-de-açúcar, com dificuldades, mesmo em avançado estado gestacional e em algumas situações, seus direitos de repouso não foram respeitados. Quanto ao ambiente de trabalho os principais problemas apresentados foram a presença de animais peçonhentos, o instrumento utilizado para cortar a cana que pode feri-las, a chuva, o calor, o transporte coletivo sujo com barro e o esforço físico demasiado. As principais alterações de saúde mencionadas foram cansaço, dores, câimbras, alterações de tendões e problemas de tontura. Os relacionamentos no trabalho eram considerados bons; ao iniciar o trabalho, a maioria aprendeu a cortar a cana-de-açúcar com seus parentes ou colegas de trabalho e procurou ensinar o ofício aos novos trabalhadores. O prazer descrito é poder ajudar os filhos, gostar do trabalho no corte da cana-de-açúcar e dos colegas. Quanto ao sofrimento foram descritos vários tipos (em relação aos filhos que eram deixados em casa, aos adoecimentos, ao próprio trabalho, ao abandono por maridos e a doação de filhos, a falta de dinheiro, a presença de animais peçonhentos e a morte de familiares); outra fonte de sofrimento foi a necessidade de acordar cedo para trabalhar e após o trabalho realizar as atividades relacionadas com a casa e o cuidado aos filhos. As estratégias defensivas mostraram que as trabalhadoras depositam sua confiança em Deus e encontram força na espiritualidade, inclusive na situação de perdas de familiares, mostrando que utilizam esta estratégia para conseguir suportar o sofrimento de suas vidas. A principal aspiração das cortadoras de cana-de-açúcar é ter uma casa própria onde possam estar com suas famílias e a segurança de um local seu para morar. As trabalhadoras mostraram ter uma vida complexa, diante de fatores sociais e ambientais, com características que levam a uma multidisciplinaridade contextual. / The history of the lives and the work of female sugar cane cutters has been the theme of the present study, the subjects of this study were women associated with the Guariba syndicate, a country area of Sao Paulo within the region of Ribeirao Preto. The main objective of this study was to evidence the context of live and work of the female sugar cane cutters. The study had a qualitative approach; the methodology used was the Oral History of Life as resource to obtain data which was gathered in 2011. Ten female workers became subjects; two categories were identified in their speech: Life Context and Work Context in Life. Under the category of Life Context sub categories emerged in their speech: Migration, Family relations, Suffering, Pleasure, Defensive Strategies and Future prospective. Under the category of Work Context in Life, the following sub categories emerged: Child labour and Teenager labour; Pregnancy and work; Work Environment and Health changes; Suffering at work and pleasure at work. The majority of the workers is pardo (mulatto), their elementary education is incomplete, they are married and have two to three children respectively. Their life condition showed that the majority comes from the Southeastern region of Brazil and they possess aggressive and violent family relations. Work conditions showed that the majority worked as a child and/or during adolescence; during pregnancy even with difficulties in advanced gestational stage and in some descriptions their right to rest was not respected. Regarding the work environment the main issues presented were the presence of poisonous animals, the tool used to cut sugar cane that could wound them, rain, heat, dirty collective mean of transportation and the extreme physical strain. The main health changes mentioned were tiredness, pain, cramps, tendons alterations and dizziness. Work relations were considered to be good. When they started working, the majority learnt how to cut sugar cane with relatives or work colleagues and they taught the skill to new comers. The pleasure described is the possibility of helping their children, liking of the job and work colleagues. Regarding suffering many were described (leaving their children at home; illness; lack of money; presence of poisonous animals and family death); another type of suffering was the necessity to wake up early to work and after work to tend to housework chores and children care. The defensive strategies showed that the female workers put their trust in God and found their strength in their spirituality, family loss included, showing that they use this strategy to bear their life suffering. The main aspiration of the female sugar cane cutters is to have their own house where they could be with family members and have the safety of a place to live. The female workers demonstrated a complex life in the face of the social and environment factors with characteristics that lead to a contextual multi disciplinarity.

During the first two thirds of the 20th century, electricity, running water, and a host of new consumer durables diffused into most American homes. These new household technologies revolutionized domestic life by freeing up time from basic housework. In this dissertation, I study the consequences of household technological change on families, focusing on fertility, child health, marriage, and female labour force participation. Chapter 1 provides a short history of household modernization. I then present an econometric framework for evaluating the effects of household technological change, and discuss the main estimation challenges. To address these issues, I introduce an estimation strategy based on a newly-assembled dataset that captures the rollout of the U.S. power grid during the mid-20th century. In chapter 2, I study the impact of household technological change on fertility and child health, exploiting substantial cross-county and cross-state variation in the timing of when households acquired new consumer durables. Modern household technologies led families to make a child quantity-quality tradeoff favouring quality: household modernization is associated with decreases in infant mortality and decreases in fertility. The declines in infant mortality were particularly large in states where households had relied heavily on coal for heating and cooking, where the potential to improve indoor air quality was greatest. Health improvements were also larger in states that had previously invested heavily in maternal education, suggesting that household modernization led parents to provide better infant care. Overall, household technological change can account for between 25% and 30% of the total decline in infant mortality between 1930 and 1960. In chapter 3, I examine the relationship between household modernization, investment in children, and female employment. I present a conceptual framework in which household technological change has little immediate impact on female employment, but generates increased investment in daughters' human capital, ultimately causing a rise in employment for subsequent cohorts of women. I find empirical support for these predictions. Further, the results suggest that the diffusion of modern technology into the home during the first half of the 20th century can account for a significant fraction of the rise in female employment after 1950.

A história de vida e trabalho das cortadoras de cana foi tema do presente estudo, tendo como sujeito as mulheres conveniadas ao sindicato de Guariba, interior de São Paulo na região de Ribeirão Preto. O objetivo geral foi evidenciar o contexto de vida e trabalho das mulheres cortadoras de cana-de-açúcar. O estudo foi de natureza qualitativa, utilizando-se o método da História Oral de Vida como recurso para a coleta de dados, que foi obtida em 2011. Constituíram-se sujeitos dez trabalhadoras; foram identificadas duas categorias que emergiram das suas falas: Contexto de Vida e Contexto do Trabalho na Vida. Na categoria Contexto de Vida emergiram as sub-categorias: Migração, Relacionamento Familiar, Sofrimento, Prazer, Estratégias Defensivas e Perspectivas Futuras. Na categoria Contexto do Trabalho na Vida emergiram as sub-categorias: Trabalho Infantil e do Adolescente; Gravidez e Trabalho, Ambiente de Trabalho e Alterações à Saúde, Relacionamentos no Trabalho, Desconhecimento e Aprendizagem no Trabalho, Sofrimento no trabalho e Prazer no Trabalho. A maior parte das trabalhadoras é parda, com ensino fundamental incompleto, casada, com dois e três filhos respectivamente. Suas condições de vida evidenciaram que a maioria procede da região sudeste do Brasil e que possui relacionamentos familiares agressivos e violentos. As condições de trabalho mostraram que a maioria trabalhou enquanto era criança e/ou adolescente; durante a gravidez cortava a cana-de-açúcar, com dificuldades, mesmo em avançado estado gestacional e em algumas situações, seus direitos de repouso não foram respeitados. Quanto ao ambiente de trabalho os principais problemas apresentados foram a presença de animais peçonhentos, o instrumento utilizado para cortar a cana que pode feri-las, a chuva, o calor, o transporte coletivo sujo com barro e o esforço físico demasiado. As principais alterações de saúde mencionadas foram cansaço, dores, câimbras, alterações de tendões e problemas de tontura. Os relacionamentos no trabalho eram considerados bons; ao iniciar o trabalho, a maioria aprendeu a cortar a cana-de-açúcar com seus parentes ou colegas de trabalho e procurou ensinar o ofício aos novos trabalhadores. O prazer descrito é poder ajudar os filhos, gostar do trabalho no corte da cana-de-açúcar e dos colegas. Quanto ao sofrimento foram descritos vários tipos (em relação aos filhos que eram deixados em casa, aos adoecimentos, ao próprio trabalho, ao abandono por maridos e a doação de filhos, a falta de dinheiro, a presença de animais peçonhentos e a morte de familiares); outra fonte de sofrimento foi a necessidade de acordar cedo para trabalhar e após o trabalho realizar as atividades relacionadas com a casa e o cuidado aos filhos. As estratégias defensivas mostraram que as trabalhadoras depositam sua confiança em Deus e encontram força na espiritualidade, inclusive na situação de perdas de familiares, mostrando que utilizam esta estratégia para conseguir suportar o sofrimento de suas vidas. A principal aspiração das cortadoras de cana-de-açúcar é ter uma casa própria onde possam estar com suas famílias e a segurança de um local seu para morar. As trabalhadoras mostraram ter uma vida complexa, diante de fatores sociais e ambientais, com características que levam a uma multidisciplinaridade contextual. / The history of the lives and the work of female sugar cane cutters has been the theme of the present study, the subjects of this study were women associated with the Guariba syndicate, a country area of Sao Paulo within the region of Ribeirao Preto. The main objective of this study was to evidence the context of live and work of the female sugar cane cutters. The study had a qualitative approach; the methodology used was the Oral History of Life as resource to obtain data which was gathered in 2011. Ten female workers became subjects; two categories were identified in their speech: Life Context and Work Context in Life. Under the category of Life Context sub categories emerged in their speech: Migration, Family relations, Suffering, Pleasure, Defensive Strategies and Future prospective. Under the category of Work Context in Life, the following sub categories emerged: Child labour and Teenager labour; Pregnancy and work; Work Environment and Health changes; Suffering at work and pleasure at work. The majority of the workers is pardo (mulatto), their elementary education is incomplete, they are married and have two to three children respectively. Their life condition showed that the majority comes from the Southeastern region of Brazil and they possess aggressive and violent family relations. Work conditions showed that the majority worked as a child and/or during adolescence; during pregnancy even with difficulties in advanced gestational stage and in some descriptions their right to rest was not respected. Regarding the work environment the main issues presented were the presence of poisonous animals, the tool used to cut sugar cane that could wound them, rain, heat, dirty collective mean of transportation and the extreme physical strain. The main health changes mentioned were tiredness, pain, cramps, tendons alterations and dizziness. Work relations were considered to be good. When they started working, the majority learnt how to cut sugar cane with relatives or work colleagues and they taught the skill to new comers. The pleasure described is the possibility of helping their children, liking of the job and work colleagues. Regarding suffering many were described (leaving their children at home; illness; lack of money; presence of poisonous animals and family death); another type of suffering was the necessity to wake up early to work and after work to tend to housework chores and children care. The defensive strategies showed that the female workers put their trust in God and found their strength in their spirituality, family loss included, showing that they use this strategy to bear their life suffering. The main aspiration of the female sugar cane cutters is to have their own house where they could be with family members and have the safety of a place to live. The female workers demonstrated a complex life in the face of the social and environment factors with characteristics that lead to a contextual multi disciplinarity.