Female labour force participation during economic crises in Argentina and the Republic of Korea

Abstract

The impact of economic crisis on female labour force participation in two middle-income countries is explored, by testing two hypotheses: the "added workers hypothesis", which holds that more women are likely to enter the labour force in order to compensate for household income lost because of the crisis; and the "discouraged workers hypothesis", which posits that poor macroeconomic conditions and scarcity of jobs lead women to leave the labour force altogether. With FLFP rates rising in Argentina but falling in the Republic of Korea, neither hypothesis is supported. Differences in employers' risk-aversion/ discrimination in employment and compensation, and supportive public policies (e.g. on childcare), apparently explain most of the country differences. Copyright © International Labour Organization 2005.