As seen in Table 2.3, the average increase in female labor force participation rates varies by age group. Average participation rose from 59 to 65 percent, or 6 percentage points among urban women aged 30 to 45. A small fraction of this increase can be explained by the change in the schooling composition of the female working age population, and the bulk of it is explained by changes in participation rates within schooling groups. The corresponding decomposition for women aged 46 to 59 is shown in the bottom panel of Table 2.3. Their participation rates rose by 9.5 percentage points, starting from a much lower participation rate equal to 37 percent. Once again, the bulk of the explanation for this change is the rapid expansion in participation rates within schooling groups. Note that participation rates within schooling groups have increased relatively more for the less schooled. In Figure 2.12 we graph the same schooling-participation relationship shown in Figure 2.10 for the late 1990s, adding the early 1990s for comparison. Clearly, the shift in the participation function is not parallel; it is more pronounced at lower levels of schooling. These findings lead us to search for other potential explanatory forces behind the expansion of female labor force participation in the 1990s. The next two subsections examine the evidence on market wages and fertility.
FIGURE 2.12
Labor Force Participation by Schooling Level in LAC Countries, Average of 18 Countries Less Educated Women Have Increased Employment Rates More than Highly Ed.
Share Economically Active
0.90 0.80 0.70 0.60 0.50 0.40 0.30 no school
primary incomplete
primary complete late 90s
48
secondary incomplete early 90s
secondary complete
any tertiary
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WOMEN AT WORK: CHALLENGES FOR LATIN AMERICA