The Role of Religion in Determining Female Labor Force Participation Rates

This paper looks at macro level data to measure the influence religion has played on female labor force participation (FLFP) rates between 1980 and 2005. It also attempts to find if this influence has changed over time. It then focuses specifically on African and post-communist nations as that is where some of the major religious changes have taken place in the last few decades. There is no clear pattern of an increasing or decreasing influence of religion on FLFP rates. Rather, different religions in different parts of the world affect FLFP in different ways. Finally, this paper looks specifically at Islamic and Catholic nations to see what variables have an effect on rising FLFP rates in those countries