Feyza A. Bhatti & Fatma Güven Lisaniler
RISE-AKADEMI CONFERENCE 2025, 12-14th May 2025, Kyrenia
Abstract
Attaining gender equality through improving women’s economic participation and ensuring women’s access to decent work is central to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 5: Gender Equality and Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth. Achieving gender equality in the labour market is not only a fundamental human right, but also a crucial factor for sustainable economic growth and social wellbeing of countries. When women participate equally, economies can benefit from an increased labour supply and a larger talent pool, leading to increased productivity, innovation and substantial improvements in economic growth. Beyond economic implications, gender equality in the labour market promotes social equity and cultural transformation by confronting traditional gender roles and stereotypes and promoting an environment where individuals are valued for their skills and contributions rather than their gender. This cultural shift not only empowers women but also benefits society as a whole by promoting inclusivity, improved family dynamics and community well-being, as women’s economic empowerment often translates into better health and education outcomes for future generations, aligning with the broader objectives of SDGs.
North Cypriot labour market is characterised by persistent gender inequalities and chronic unequal opportunities for women. Women’s labour force participation in North Cyprus is low when compared with EU and world averages: in 2023 it was 38.3% as compared to 58% in EU and 49% in the world. Despite closing gender gaps resulting rather from declining men’s labour force participation rates, in 2023 there were only 54 women in the labour market for every 100 men, also reflecting systematic differences in the outcomes that men and women achieve in the labour market and persistent barriers to women’s labour force participation. More startlingly, macro-level changes happening in the country such as increasing educational attainment levels for women, late marriages, or low fertility rates have not been translated into gains in labour market for women. Labour force participation rates of women have been sluggish between 30-40% since mid-1990s, showing almost no progress over the last 30 years. This stagnation reflects deep-rooted socio-economic and cultural barriers that prevent women from fully engaging in the work force. The factors that influence the labour force participation of women in a country have historically reflected the influence of several factors including individual, regional, demographic, cultural and institutional factors, as well as wider economic developments such as the transformations in country’s
employment structures and the impact of economic crises and the neo-liberal adjustment programmes. The limited studies using microlevel data from North Cyprus have also shown demographic and household conditions including age, educational attainment, marital status, residential area, number
and age of the children and spouse income as predictors of women’s labour supply. These studies, however, are rather scarce and outdated. In addition, none of these studies have compared the differences in the determinants of labour force participation by gender focusing only on women.
These make investigating the factors that determine the participation in labour force in North Cyprus, and how it differ by gender particularly important in order to understand the barriers and enablers of labour supply decisions for both genders. What are the factors determining the labour force participation? Are there differences in these factors by gender? Do both women and men have similar barriers and enablers? are the main questions that are aimed to be answered by this study.
Utilising secondary data from Household Labor Force Survey 2023 conducted by the Statistical Institute of North Cyprus, this paper aims at investigating the supply side factors that determine labour force participation, with a focus on the differences between women and men. The empirical analysis is conducted by a logit model in which being in the labour force is used as the binary dependent variable. The independent variables capture three groups of supply-side factors: own characteristics including educational attainment level, age, marital status, nationality; residential factors including district and urban/rural areas; and family circumstances – household income, spouse’s income, number of children in the household and whether there is a young child (ages 0-4). Initial findings highlight a positive role of education and the negative impact of traditional gender roles that hinder women’s ability to enter or remain in the workforce. While this paper mainly focuses on supply side factors, it also touches upon the possible factors that severely creates a demand constraint including wage gaps and employment sectors and occupations that are highly segregated by gender in North Cyprus. Breaking the existing traditional gender roles and removing the institutional barriers such as inadequate childcare facilities and inflexible work arrangements are suggested as main policy implications.