Arab Women in the Labour Market: Empirical Implications and Policy Orientation
By Dr Sami - September 27, 2022
This paper describes the patterns of participation of Arab women in the labor market, examines how various barriers affect the number of working Arab women, and discusses ways to increase the level of their participation.
The research findings show that, despite an increase over the years in the participation rate of Arab women in the labor market, it has remained very low, both compared to Jewish women and to Arab men and Jewish men. At first glance, the rate of participation by age clearly shows that Arab women leave the labor market earlier than Jewish women. Additionally, employment patterns differ for married and single Arab women. Traditional attitudes, motherhood, and number of children in the family affect the extent to which Arab women join the labor market, and place of residence also plays a meaningful role in their participation.
The paper offers a number of policy proposals to increase the participation rate of Arab women in the labor market and to close the gap between Arab women and Jewish women joining the labor force.
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