Female labour force participation and the economic development in Egypt

Abstract

Economic literature highlights the vital role that women can play in enhancing the economic development of nations. However, there is still gender inequality in developing countries, especially in education and labour market participation. Although women represent nearly half of the population in Egypt, their labour force participation rate is still very low compared to men. This paper's primary goal is to investigate the short and long-run associations between female labour force participation and Egypt's GDP growth rate. The study used annual time series data from 1990-2019, where the vector error correction model (VECM) was employed. The study found that female labour force participation and the gross fixed capital formation growth rate can enhance the GDP growth rate in the long run. Nevertheless, there is no statistically significant relationship in the short run. This paper's main recommendations are that the Egyptian government needs to implement policies that encourage women's labour force participation and decrease gender inequality. These policies could be changes in legislation, modernization of social norms, Job flexibility, and increasing access to childcare. Moreover, they need to focus on both the demand and supply sides of the quality of female labour force participation by matching the women’s education with the creation of suitable jobs. © 2022, Bucharest University of Economic Studies. All rights reserved.