Long-Term and Short-Term Impacts of Women's Reproductive Health and Empowerment on Economic Opportunities in South Asia

Strategic Insights -

A new study published in the Journal for Labour Market Research has revealed significant findings on the impact of women's reproductive health and empowerment on their economic opportunities in eight South Asian countries. The study employed panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) analysis on data from 1991 to 2021 and found that awareness about contraceptives, prenatal care for pregnant women, and female tertiary education have positive effects on female labour force participation (FLFP). The research suggests that policymakers can improve reproductive healthcare and increase female higher education to reduce gender inequality in the South Asian labour market.

Key Takeaways:

  • The study aims to investigate the long and short-run impacts of women's reproductive health and women's empowerment on their economic opportunities in South Asia.
  • Awareness about contraceptives and the prevalence of prenatal care for pregnant women have a long-run and short-run positive relationship with female labour force participation (FLFP).
  • Female tertiary education has a long-run positive effect on FLFP, indicating that higher education, vocational training, and adequate skills support female's entry into the workforce.
  • The study finds that the maternal mortality rate has a long-run positive relationship with FLFP, which might be influenced by household coping mechanisms, wage increases due to labour shortages, and gender roles in a segmented labour market.
  • The study suggests that policymakers improve reproductive healthcare and increase female higher education to reduce gender inequality in the South Asian labour market.
  • The research was conducted by Surbhi Mishra and Dukhabandhu Sahoo from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Management at IIT Bhubaneswar.

Statistics:

  • The study employed panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) analysis on data from 1991 to 2021.
  • The study covered eight South Asian countries, including machine-readable sources: [not specified].
  • The findings revealed a long-run and short-run positive relationship between awareness about contraceptives and prenatal care for pregnant women and FLFP.
  • The study found that female tertiary education has a long-run positive effect on FLFP.
  • The maternal mortality rate has a long-run positive relationship with FLFP.

Sources:

  • Mishra, S., & Sahoo, D. (2025). Impact of women's reproductive health and empowerment on female labour force participation. Journal for Labour Market Research, 59(1), 1-13. (DOI: 10.1186/s12651-025-00414-0)
  • NewsRx. (2025, October 20). Research from IIT Yields New Study Findings on Education (Impact of women's reproductive health and empowerment on female labour force participation). OBGYN & Reproduction Week, 840.