Women’s Labor Force Participation in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq : A Study of Social and Psychological Barriers
Women’s labor force participation in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is very low, at 14 percent. This paper investigates a number of social and psychological barriers to participation, using recent methods in the measurement of social norms and cultur...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2022
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099728304282234440/IDU03d4388360c37c04149090b60d078abce3838 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37365 |
| Summary: | Women’s labor force participation in
the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is very low, at 14 percent.
This paper investigates a number of social and psychological
barriers to participation, using recent methods in the
measurement of social norms and cultural beliefs and primary
data collected from all three governorates. Furthermore,
since greater growth in employment generation is expected in
the private sector, the paper explores women and men’s
perceptions toward working in the private sector in detail.
The findings show that while 70 percent of women and men
support women’s participation in the private sector, several
challenges remain in both information about the sector, as
well as perceived risks and discrimination. More broadly,
the findings show that traditional gender role expectations
may still impede women’s labor force participation.
Perceptions of common societal practices and beliefs of
other members from the same household are all correlated
with women’s work. The paper explores additional mental
barriers using a smaller sample of younger and more educated
female job seekers, who are registered with a jobs agency,
and finds that both perseverance in the job search process
and trust and engagement with formal institutions are
additional behavioral barriers. |
|---|