Legal Reform and Women’s Employment
Billions of women still face legal barriers to economic inclusion, yet it remains unclear whether removing these barriers is sufficient to enhance their economic participation. This study randomized access to driver’s training for women in Riyadh to assess the impact of lifting the Saudi women’s driving ban on women’s mobility and labor force participation. Two years later, women who participated in training were more likely to drive, leave the house unchaperoned, and be employed. However, they were also more likely to require permission to make purchases. These patterns varied systematically with marital status: although physical mobility increased for all women, never-married and widowed women – who negotiate employment with their fathers- saw increased employment, while married and divorced women with children – over whom husbands and ex-husbands have leverage – actually exited the labor force and experienced decreased spending autonomy. These patterns suggest that male family members’ support plays a crucial role in women’s economic inclusion, and provide evidence that men’s resistance to wives’ employment poses a binding constraint to female labor force participation when legal restrictions are relaxed, but also that men are more open to granting their daughters economic rights. The results underscore the importance of intra-household responses to gender reforms, which have the potential to counteract legal gains in women’s freedoms and offer insight into why legal gains in women’s freedoms may fail to translate into economic advancement.
Drivers of Change: How Intra-Household Preferences Shape Employment Responses to Gender Reform
with Chaza Abou Daher, Kendal Swanson, and Kate Vyborny.
Collaborating Organization: Alnahda Society
