The work revisits the main stylized facts on female labour force participation in the last thirty years, comparing empirical evidence for high-income and middle-low income countries. The comparison is made using data bases from the World Bank Group and the International Labour Organization (ILO), which are updated and comparable over time and between countries.
The analysis finds that: (i) the supply of female labour in recent decades has increased significantly in advanced countries while remaining constant in emerging ones; (ii) the higher employment of women in the growing service sectors has fostered this dynamic, but has also meant that the Covid-19 crisis has mainly affected female employment; and (iii) the adoption of reforms aimed at promoting equal opportunities only contributes to stimulating female participation in advanced countries.
