Relationship of Female Fertility and their Labor Force Participation - Essay Example

Relationship of Female Fertility and their Labor Force Participation ‎ The lives of most women before the 20th century were generally confided to house and children. They are often perceived as persons who are ‎unacknowledged in the labor sector, suffered little opportunity as to the variety of work experience and have very ‎little freedom from daily household activities – caring of children or child rearing, farm life and day-to-day tasks of ‎housekeeping (The Household, 1862).‎ It was during the final stage of the nineteenth (19th) century where there was a point of tumult and change for women populations. To them, it ‎involved tensions in some activities that ‎clarified new roles among women (both the younger generation and adults) in the decades that followed. All the more, women of today, particularly those in developed countries are now heading on the frontline; highly responsible leaders and managers in almost every industry. Aguero & Marks (2007) pointed out that, it is a common observation that there is a pattern of correlation among the education among women, their fertility rates and labour force participation (LFP). This paper intends to present primary data taken from a Survey on the Household Income in the year 1993 in order to have a perspective on the relationship of female matrimonial fertility and their labour force participation. In particular, we focus our attention on the effect of formal education on both fertility and labour force participation. It further accounts for the probable endogeneity of education. The said primary data are shown on the preceding page. Table 1. The Average Years of Education among Women Ages 14 and above In Selected Countries of Europe European Countries 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 Finland 5.54 5.86 6.22 6.67 7.11 7.64 9.23 9.50 Italy 4.38 4.64 5.11 5.26 5.43 5.72 6.09 6.48 Norway 5.71 5.96 6.72 7.12 7.74 8.83 11.26 11.41 Portugal 1.44 2.01 2.14 2.37 3.42 3.54 4.63 5.22 Spain 3.75 3.96 4.39 4.37 5.47 5.48 6.28 6.65 UK 7.86 7.46 7.83 8.04 8.25 8.49 8.74 9.06 Table 1 shows that there have been increasing education exerted by women with age 14 and above in selected countries of Europe. Figure1. The Average Years of Education among Women in European Countries. Figure 1 presents an aggregated bar graph with data derived from selected individual countries in Europe. Undeniably, it can be figured out that most women in the Finland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain and UK are investing their time to complete their education. As years go by, more time is consumed by females in their studies or most of them invest in order to earn degree/s. This implies that education have positive impacts to the life of these women, and among the countries presented in the figure, Norway leads in the statistics. Table 2. The Total Fertility Rates among Women (ages 14 and above) during the Period 1960 -1995 in Selected Countries of Europe European Countries 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 Finland 2.71 2.40 1.83 1.69 1.63 1.64 1.78 1.81 Italy 2.41 2.66 2.42 2.21 1.64 1.39 1.26 1.17 Norway 2.85 2.93 2.50 1.99 1.72 1.68 1.93 1.87 Portugal 3.01 3.08 2.76 2.52 2.19 1.74 1.43 1.45 Spain 2.86 2.94 2.84 2.79 2.22 1.63 1.33 1.19 UK 2.69 2.86 2.44 1.81 1.89 1.80 1.83 1.71 The above table provides an idea that the pattern of fertility rates among females if based on the succeeding years in general are significantly declining. The highest rate incurred so far is 3.08 in 1965 and this was experienced by the Portuguese. So far, the lowest fertility rate documented is 1.26 in 1990 and this is manifested by women in Italy. Since it is clearly depicted that fertility lowers as time goes older, then, it is logical to estimate that by the year 2000 and beyond, the fertility rates of European women would be very low. Munoz-Perez (1989) investigated the countries: Italy, Portugal, Greece, and Spain. The study (Berman, 2007) discovered the role of economic implications and how it affected the aging and shrinking population. Figure 2. The Total Fertility Rates among European for the Period 1960 -1995. In the initial observation of the aggregated time-series data, it is quite obvious that there was a continuous decline of fertility rates of women in Finland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain and UK. Table 3. The Female Labor Participation Rates during the Period 1960 -1995 in Selected Countries of Europe. European Countries 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 Finland 57.70 59.20 61.88 64.67 68.31 70.32 73.92 73.48 Italy 31.99 32.77 33.94 38.00 40.21 41.65 45.75 47.97 Norway 28.13 32.94 38.57 49.61 62.44 66.05 70.90 73.96 Portugal 21.50 25.70 30.07 41.62 55.01 58.77 61.45 64.81 Spain 22.51 24.95 29.15 31.42 33.05 37.63 42.56 45.31 UK 44.65 47.76 51.90 55.81 58.40 60.79 65.11 66.77 Note that from the year 1960 up to 1995, there was dramatic increase in the rates of labor participation among female workforce in the above enumerated European countries. At the end of 1995, the labor participation rate in Europe has reached to about 45-73% far above during 1960. Whatever statistical record one may scrutinize in Europe, a marked turn down in terms of gender employment gap is perceptible. The said gap has not yet been fully eliminated anywhere, however, in some countries, particularly the Nordics, obtain a very close to a ratio of one-to-one woman to man employment rate (Boeri, 2005). Figure 3. The Time-Series Chart Demonstrating Female Labor Participation Rates during the Period 1960 -1995 in Selected Countries of Europe. Despite the fact that there is equal opportunity legislation as well as ongoing changes in the countries’ respective social norms, the superior role of women (Boeri, 2005) in the world of work has been greatly accepted. An explanation to this is that, there is available and greater increase in wages that contributes to the boost in the participation of women. Figure 4. The Relationship of Years of Education Spent by Females, Fertility Rates and Labor Participation Rates during 1960 -1995. The scatter plot diagram above illustrates the relationship between fertility rates and labor participation rates. Data from European countries seem to confirm the subsistence of negative relationship between fertility rates and labor participation rates based on the points which show significant clustering at the right side. This implies that when labor participation increases, fertility decreases. Conclusion In this century, more women are getting engrossed with their work. However, this may also unhelpfully affect fertility rates where the population is speedily ageing, which means, young people are needed or it’s about time that Europe must revitalize the existing population. Despite the economic implications, social norms and even career concerns, it wouldn’t be a good idea that existing generation will not think about the status of their country in the future, otherwise, European countries will just be surprised one day that social, economic and political standing of their nation has been dependent to or have taken over by other nationals. REFERENCES Aguero, J.M. and Marks, M.S. “Motherhood and Female Labor Force Participation: Evidence from Infertility Shocks”. University of California, Riverside. 2007. Berman, E., et. al. “From Empty Pews to Empty Cradles: Fertility Decline Among European Catholics” University of California San Diego, 2007. Boeri, T. “The Lisbon Process and European Women at Work”. Conference Political Economy and Social Policy of Western Europe Indiana University, Bloomington. 2005 Bratti, M. “Labour Force Participation and Marital Fertility of Italian Women: The Role of Education”. A Paper presented on 15th Annual Conference of the European Society for Population EconomicsDepartment of Economics, University of Warwick (UK) Dipartimento di Economia, Università degli Studi di Ancona (Italy). 2002, p 3-34. Feminist Studies. “Images of Exotic Women in Turn-of –the Century Tobacco Art”. Feminist ‎Studies Inc., 1992. 327.‎ Munoz-Perez, F. “The Decline of Fertility in Southern Europe,” Population: An English Selection, 44(1), 1989. pp. 261-290. Skymark Corporation. “Scatter Plots”. April 9, 2009 < http://www.skymark.com/resources/tools/scatter_plots.asp> “The Household”. 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