Strengthening Economic Rights and Women's Occupational Choice : The Impact of Reforming Ethiopia's Family Law

This paper evaluates the impact of strengthening legal rights on the types of economic opportunities that are pursued. Ethiopia changed its family law, requiring both spouses' consent in the administration of marital property, removing the ability of a spouse to deny permission for the other to work outside the home, and raising women's minimum age of marriage. Thus both access to resources and the removal of restrictions on employment served to strengthen women's bargaining position within the household and their ability to pursue economic opportunities. Although this reform now applies nationally, it was initially rolled out in the two chartered cities and three of Ethiopia's nine regions. Using nationally representative household surveys from just prior to the reform and five years later allows for a difference-in-difference estimation of the reform's impact. The analysis finds that women were relatively more likely to work in occupations that require work outside the home, employ more educated workers, and in paid and full-time jobs where the reform had been enacted, controlling for time and location effects. As the relative increase in women's participation in these activities was 15-24 percent higher in areas where the reform was carried out, the magnitude of the impact is significant too.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Gajigo, Ousman, Hallward-Driemeier, Mary
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2013-11
Subjects:	ACCESS TO CAPITAL, ACCESS TO CREDIT, ACCESS TO FINANCE, ACCESS TO RESOURCES, ADOPTION, ADULT WOMEN, ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES, AGE AT MARRIAGE, AGE OF MARRIAGE, ALIMONY, ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES, ASSET OWNERSHIP, AVAILABILITY OF COLLATERAL, BANK, BARGAINING, BARGAINING POWER, BENEFIT, BENEFITS, BENEFITS FOR WOMEN, BORROWERS, CHILD, CHILD WELFARE, CHILDREN, CLERKS, COLLATERAL, COOPERATIVE, COURTS, CREDIT, CREDIT ACCESS, CREDIT CONSTRAINTS, CREDITORS, CULTURAL CHANGE, CUSTOMARY PRACTICES, DEMANDS ON WOMEN, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPMENT BANK, DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, DISCRIMINATION, DIVORCE, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES, ECONOMIC ACTIVITY, ECONOMIC BENEFITS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES, ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN, ECONOMIC RIGHTS, ECONOMICS, EDUCATION LEVEL, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, EFFECTS, EMPLOYEES, EMPLOYERS, EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES, EMPLOYMENT STATUS, EMPOWERING WOMEN, EMPOWERMENT, ENTERPRISES, ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY, EQUAL RIGHTS, EXPENDITURES, FAMILIES, FAMILY, FAMILY LAW, FAMILY LAWS, FAMILY RELATIONS, FARM ENTERPRISE, FEMALE, FEMALE EDUCATION, FEMALES, FINANCE, FINANCIAL SUPPORT, FIRST MARRIAGE, GENDER, GENDER AND LAW, GENDER DIFFERENCE, GENDER DIFFERENCES, GENDER DIMENSION, GENDER DISCRIMINATION, GENDER DIVISION OF LABOR, GENDER EQUALITY, GENDER EQUALITY IN RIGHTS, GENDER GAPS, GENDER INEQUALITIES, GENDER INEQUALITY, GENDER NEUTRAL, GENDER ROLES, GENDER SEGREGATION, GROUPS OF WOMEN, HOME, HOMES, HOUSEHOLD, HOUSEHOLD DYNAMICS, HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS, HOUSEHOLD WELFARE, HOUSEHOLDS, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES, HUSBAND, HUSBANDS, INCOME, INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS, INDIVIDUAL WELFARE, INHERITANCE, INHERITANCE RIGHTS, INSECURE PROPERTY, INTEREST, INTERESTS, INTERNATIONAL BANK, INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, INVESTMENT, INVESTMENTS, LABOR ECONOMICS, LABOR FORCE, LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION, LABOR MARKET, LABOR MARKETS, LABOR MOBILITY, LABOR RELATIONS, LABOR SUPPLY, LABORERS, LAND REGISTRATION, LAND RIGHTS, LARGE CITIES, LARGE NUMBER OF WOMEN, LAWS, LEGAL MARRIAGE, LEGAL REFORM, LEGAL REFORMS, LEGAL RIGHTS, LEGISLATION, LEVEL OF EDUCATION, MACROECONOMIC EFFECTS, MANAGEMENT, MANDATES, MARITAL PROPERTY, MARITAL STATUS, MARKET INFORMATION, MARRIAGE, MARRIAGE AGE, MARRIAGE FOR GIRLS, MARRIAGE PARTNERS, MARRIAGES, MARRIED COUPLES, MARRIED WOMEN, MILLENNIUM DECLARATION, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOAL, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, MINIMUM AGE OF MARRIAGE, MINIMUM AGE OF MARRIAGE FOR WOMEN, NATIONAL LEVEL, NUMBER OF WOMEN, OCCUPATIONS, OLDER WOMEN, OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN, ORGANIZATIONS, OUTCOMES, PARENTAL LEAVE, PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN, PARTNERS, PEOPLE, POLICY, POLICY CHANGE, POLICY DISCUSSIONS, POLICY RESEARCH, POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER, POLITICAL ECONOMY, POPULATION, POPULATION DENSITY, POPULATION GROWTH, POPULOUS COUNTRY, POWER OF WOMEN, PRODUCTIVITY, PROGRESS, PROPERTY OWNER, PROPERTY RIGHT, PROPERTY RIGHTS, PROPORTION OF WOMEN, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, RADIO, RAPE, RATES OF POPULATION, RED TAPE, REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN, RISK, RURAL AREAS, SENSITIVE POLICIES, SEXUAL DIVISION OF LABOR, SINGLE WOMEN, SKILLED WORKERS, SMALL BUSINESS, SOCIAL CHANGE, SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS, SPOUSE, SPOUSES, TRADITIONAL FAMILY, TRADITIONAL GENDER ROLES, TV, UNDP, UNEMPLOYMENT, UNIFEM, UNION, UNITED NATIONS, UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT FUND FOR WOMEN, UNMARRIED WOMEN, URBAN AREAS, URBAN EMPLOYMENT, URBAN MIGRATION, URBAN WOMEN, URBANIZATION, VALUE, VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, WELFARE, WHO, WIDOWS, WIFE, WILL, WIVES, WOMEN, WOMEN EMPLOYEES, WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS, YOUNG WOMEN,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/11/18491801/strengthening-economic-rights-womens-occupational-choice-impact-reforming-ethiopias-family-law https://hdl.handle.net/10986/16919
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