Home-Based Work Decisions among Bangladeshi Women

Abstract

Between 2003 and 2015, the labor force participation rate of women in Bangladesh increased from 26.0% to 35.6%. On further analysis, we find that much of this gain was due to an increasing number of women working from home. We use the model proposed by Edwards and Field-Hendrey (2002) to study the supply-side factors that affect the location-of-work decision of Bangladeshi women. Afterward, we use a simplified version of the decomposition technique devised by Bourguignon, Ferreira, and Leite (2008) to see which factors are driving women to work from home. Our analysis shows that the rising wealth of Bangladeshi households is associated with the rising number of women choosing to work from home. This trend is prevalent among urban and rural women, and among women in different age groups. We also find that married young women are more likely to work from home.