Programme full

Wednesday 15 April 2015 11:00 - 12:30
PAPER SESSION 2
Structural explanations that emphasise the role of discrimination against Muslim women and Muslims in Britain more
generally.
In this paper I use two different datasets in order to explain the disadvantage of Muslim women in the British labour
market: The Longitudinal Study of Young People in England and the Labour Force Survey 2002-2013. The first
dataset will allow me to assess whether Muslim girls and boys have different future educational and occupational
aspirations and whether the expectations of parents varies by the child gender. The Labour Force Survey will allow
me to assess the actual labour market participation of Muslim women across a period of twelve years. By analysing
the role of education among first and second generation women I will be able to examine human capital explanations.
Comparing Muslim women (first and second generation separately) with Majority White women will enable me to
appreciate the extent and dynamic of the penalty facing Muslim women.
Family Policies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region: Women, Work and Care
Mehdizadeh, N.
(University of Glasgow)
Policies to support work-family balance exist in all the developed countries, and in many developing and transition
countries. Among these are policies to support work-family balance, such as care-related leave, childcare support and
policies to enhance the availability or quality of flexible working practices. However, although tensions between work
and family are also increasing growing in developing countries, the issue of work-family balance in these countries has
not yet been expressed to the same extent as it has been in the developed countries. In the MENA, the number of
women participating in the labour market is low, considerably lower than the education levels of women might imply.
However, it is all too simple to regard this as a situation arising solely from culture rather than one which may be
attributed to a dearth of policies that promote a satisfactory work-family balance: the vocabulary of work-family
balance and family-friendly policies is all but absent in the MENA.
Nevertheless, increased participation for women in economic and political life does not mean that family life or
traditional values need be abandoned. Rather, attaining a balance between work and family life is likely to assure the
well-being of future generations.
This paper seeks to provide an overview of some of these policies, to discuss work and family balance in various
types of welfare development, in four MENA countries (Iran, Qatar, Tunisia and Turkey) and to draw out implications
for policy designs that appear likely to optimise women's labour force participation.
111 BSA Annual Conference 2015
Glasgow Caledonian University