Role of Religion and Culture on Female Labor Force Participation: A Panel Data Analysis of Selected Countries

Recent research regarding the role of Religion and Culture in female labor force participation has recently gained pace to understand various broader societal and personal level factors. Women's higher participation in the labor force is essential for boosting the global economy and creating a more equitable society. The influence of religion, religiosity, and culture was explored using five waves of the World Values Survey (WVS) ranging from 1989 to 2014, and Panel logistics regression analysis wasused for empirical results. In addition, principal component analysis was utilized to create indices for culture, religion, and religiosity. The results showed that religiosity and traditional culture negatively affected the FLFPR, while no conclusive statement could be made about the impact of religion. Results show that religion, religiosity, and culture remain dominant influencers of female employment despite the individual variation. Hence, it is essentialto consider the various aspects of their national cultural and dominant religion and develop policies in tandem with these cultural and religious frameworks