Ethnic differences in female labour force participation in the netherlands: Adding gender role attitudes and religiosity to the explanation

Abstract

Female labour force participation varies greatly between different ethnic groups, but previous research on human capital and household conditions has not been able to fully explain these differences. Using large-scale representative survey data of four ethnic minority groups and the Dutch majority in the Netherlands, we add gender role attitudes and religiosity to the explanatory model. The results of heterogeneous choice models and interval regressions show that the predicted negative effects of traditional gender role attitudes and of religiosity contribute to the explanation of ethnic differences in female labour force participation, in addition to human capital and household conditions. These factors moreover partly explain differences between Dutch, Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese, and Antillean women.