Personal, Household, and Sociodemographic Factors of Women’s Labor Force Participation in Áncash, 2022

A comprehensive analysis of the determinants of women's participation in the labor force

Abstract

The present research aims to identify the personal, household, and sociodemographic factors that influence women’s labor force participation in Áncash during 2022, using a logit model with data from the ENAHO survey. The model obtained a pseudo R² of 0.11 and an area under the ROC curve of 0.72. The methodology employed follows a quantitative, explanatory, and non-experimental design. The results reveal that, at the personal level, the probability of women’s labor force participation increased by 0.28% when women’s age was higher (up to 64 years), by 16.4% when they had attained higher education, and by 8% when they had or had had a partner, whether married, cohabiting, widowed, or divorced. Regarding household factors, being the head of household increased the probability by 17.5%, while households with more than two income earners raised it by 5%. On the other hand, at the sociodemographic level, living in urban areas reduced participation by 13.4% compared to rural areas, and having learned Spanish as a mother tongue decreased the probability by 9.5% compared to Quechua. Variables such as ethnicity, ownership of assets (cell phone, TV, and internet), household poverty, total household size, participation in social programs (food and subsidies), and household income did not show statistical significance (p<0.05). It is concluded that education, the role of head of household, and area of residence are relevant determinants of female labor force participation, reaffirming human capital theory.