The Employment and Unemployment of Women in OECD Countries

Book excerpt: This report examines the major trends in women's employment and unemployment over the past two decades in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries. Employment and unemployment trends in the labor force by sex are first considered. The report next examines the growth of the female labor supply and the trends in the labor force participation of women with an analysis of the factors responsible for these developments. It then analyzes the growth of the demand for female labor sector by sector and the development of part-time work, short-term and casual employment, the impact of technological change, and male and female earnings differentials as they have characterized female employment trends. On the basis of these developments, which are reviewed on the two sides of the labor market, the report examines in a comparative way the movements over conjunctural cycles of male and female unemployment and the reasons for its development. Twenty-three tables are included. (YLB)