How Gender Equality Policy Affects Female Labour Force Participation

Historically,in most of the countries in the European Union(EU),married women belonged to their husbands as their property,and property of wives also belonged to their husbands.Most women were not allowed to attend school,and did not even have the right to participate in politics.This shows that although a social institution is inclusive for men,it can be exclusionary for women.It is obvious that women have always had less power than men,especially social status and political power.Today,in order to change the discrimination that women have once suffered and to balance the treatment of men and women,most developed countries have been implementing gender equality policies.There are three main gender equality policies in the EU:equal treatment,positive action,and gender mainstreaming to address gender issues(Pollack and Hafner-Burton,2000).This thesis proposes to investigate how gender equality policy affects female labour force participation across the EU,with a particular focus on the effect of disposable income.Female labour force participation rate is one of the sure ways to measure the outcome of gender equality and has a direct impact on the GDP of a country.Since inclusive institutions are closely related to the sustainable growth of the economy,it is of paramount importance to research whether equal opportunities have a significant impact on a country's economic growth.However,it is crucial to first understand the relationship between equal opportunities and inclusive institutions,which is what this research paper also intends to do.This paper first reviews the literature on the impact of gender equality policies on female labour force participation.It then further explores the gender equality policy of EU countries;the current situation and evolution of labour force participation of women in EU countries,as well as an analysis of the impact of the EU's gender equality policy on female labour force participation rates.In order to further examine the effect of gender equality policy on the female labour force participation rate in the EU,this article empirically analyses the data on the female labour force participation rate.The findings show that the disposable income of males and females have a significant impact on female labour force participation;however,the impact of the disposable income of males is stronger than that of females.Moreover,a reduction in the gender pay gap can also increase female labour force participation and finally,overspending on early childhood education and care can actually cause a decrease in labour force participation.Finally,based on the findings of previous chapters this paper provides suggestions for policy makers and hopes to improve the situation that women nowadays are still facing in the labour market.