Demographic perspective on women’s status and religion: Multicultural investigation

Abstract

Giving the central focus to ‘religious affiliation’ which ‘was once at the forefront of demographic research’ (McQuillan 2004: 25), this paper examines the association between religion and women’s market employment. The context, method and comparison groups of this study provide the opportunity to examine the long-standing debate as to whether religion per se or other determinants explain a relatively lower level of gender outcomes including a low rate of market employment for women in the Muslim world. The paper benefits the use of logistic regression analysis and the multicultural context of Australia containing substantially diverse ethnic and religious compositions throughout the world. This analysis also examines the effect of religion relative to other competing determinants on the integration of female immigrants measured by their status and success in the labor market.