Conference Paper
Women’s Labor Force Attachment in Jordan: Understanding Attrition, Retention, and Re-Entry
No.
ERF32AC_63
Publisher
ERF
Date
May, 2026
Topic
J. Labor and Demographic Economics
This paper examines women’s medium-run labor force trajectories in Jordan using the 2010–2016 Jordan Labor Market Panel Survey. Moving beyond static participation measures, we classify women into four six-year trajectories: remain, enter, exit, or remain out of the labor force, and estimate multinomial models incorporating education, marriage, fertility, wealth mobility, and intergenerational backgrounds. Four robust patterns emerge. Tertiary education is a binding threshold for women’s entry into the labor force and improves retention, but does not shield them from marriage-driven exits, while secondary schooling has weak effects. Socio-economic status shapes trajectories asymmetrically: affluent households facilitate withdrawal, whereas downward wealth mobility increases labor force exits. Marriage, rather than motherhood, is the central life event reducing women’s attachment, with strong negative effects that dominate fertility dynamics. Maternal employment and education are powerful intergenerational predictors of women’s trajectories, whereas paternal characteristics matter little. Women’s outside options are constrained by scarce “decent” jobs and household bargaining dynamics, leading to early and persistent withdrawal from the labor market. Our findings underscore the need for policies that expand stable employment opportunities, reduce marriage-related barriers, and support continuous employment among mothers.