Female labour force participation: evidence from Ghana

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine female labour force participation (FLFP) and their employment choice between the formal and informal sectors after several institutional and social reforms such as Millennium Development Goal 3 aimed at promoting gender equality and empowerment of wome...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	International journal of social economics Vol. 44; no. 11; pp. 1489 - 1505
Main Authors:	Abraham, Abena Yeboah, Ohemeng, Fidelia Nana Akom, Ohemeng, Williams
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Bradford Emerald Publishing Limited 01-01-2017 Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Subjects:	Censuses Economic conditions Economic development Economic models Education Employment Empowerment Equality Females Fertility Gender equity Gender inequality Households Housing Income distribution Informal economy Intervention Labor Labor force Labor force participation Labor market Leisure Participation Poverty Reforms Retraining Rural areas Rural communities Self employment Trends Unemployment Women Women's education Ghana C35 Education Logit regression Female labour force participation J21 Multinomial logit I25
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Summary:	Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine female labour force participation (FLFP) and their employment choice between the formal and informal sectors after several institutional and social reforms such as Millennium Development Goal 3 aimed at promoting gender equality and empowerment of women by 2015, using data from Ghana’s 2010 Population and Housing Census. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, logit regression and multinomial logit techniques were employed. Findings The results show that FLFP has declined marginally from the 2005 figures; education remains the important factor in determining women’s participation in the formal sector. Strikingly 91 per cent of the FLFP is engaged in the informal sector of the Ghanaian economy, a sector with a very low contribution per head. Practical implications Interventions such as encouraging female education and retraining of self-employed females to improve upon their efficiency ought to be pursued vigorously; whiles developing rural areas for females to get equal labour opportunities and many others aimed at enhancing the efficiency and by inference earning per head of the informal sector is highly recommended. Originality/value The literature on the FLFP is thin in Ghana. The current study uses a census data unlike the previous studies and as such employed a huge sample size that reflects the reality in Ghana. The study contributed immensely to policy having established that 91 per cent of the female labour force is engaged in the informal sectors of the economy, and therefore any intervention targeting at reducing poverty and meeting the MDG 3 should be targeted at the informal sector of the Ghanaian economy.
ISSN:	0306-8293 1758-6712
DOI:	10.1108/IJSE-06-2015-0159