Women’s Labor Force Participation in Nepal: An Exploration of The Role of Social Norms

Whether and the extent to which social norms matter for women’s labor force participation has been shown to vary by context. This paper presents rigorous evidence on how these relationships hold in the case of Nepal, where female labor force participation remains among the lowest in the world. Using a representative survey covering four provinces in Nepal, data were collected from 2,000 married Nepali women and men on their own beliefs about norms-related behaviors, their expectations of how common it is for others in their social group to engage in those behaviors, and the expected social consequences surrounding those behaviors. Overall, the study finds that personal beliefs and social expectations are generally not very restrictive among respondents, and that there are limited linkages between social norms and women’s work outcomes. However, the study also shows that norms matter for selected subgroups and under certain circumstances that are related to the woman’s role as a mother and in the household as well as to her job characteristics. The findings indicate that relaxing norms in those specific circumstances can help to promote women’s labor force participation in Nepal.