How Do Maternity Leave and Discriminatory Social Norms Relate to Women’s Employment in Developing Countries?

Increasing women’s participation in paid employment is a fundamental step towards women’s economic empowerment and improving development outcomes. The benefits of increasing women’s labour force participation extend well beyond improving the economic status of women themselves. Gender inequality in labour force participation has a significantly negative impact on economic growth (Klasen and Lamanna, 2009) and conversely, increasing women’s labour force participation is a driver of economic growth. Therefore, understanding the determinants of women’s employment outcomes, and in particular female labour force participation is, important not only to tackle persistent gender gaps but also to enhance economic growth and accelerate progress on development goals (OECD, 2012).