The determinants of female activity rates in rural areas: an analysis of Norfolk parishes

Abstract

Moseley M. J. and Darby J. (1978) The determinants of female activity rates in rural areas: an analysis of Norfolk parishes, Reg. Studies 12, 297–309. Rural Britain still has significantly lower female activity rates than do the urban and suburban areas. The central issue, which this paper explores, concerns whether this reflects variations in the opportunity for women to work, or in their desire to work. ‘Opportunity’ factors include industrial and occupational structure and physical accessibility. ‘Desire’ factors arise from the social, cultural and familial environment within which women live. For the first time, ward library data from the 1971 census allow a fine-grained spatial analysis, and attention is focused upon the rural parishes of Norfolk. Parish-level data relating to female activity rates and to potentially explanatory variables are subjected to multiple regression analysis. Levels of explanation are low but demographic and ‘opportunities’ factors emerge as significant. Improved opportunities of a ‘work to the workers’ nature constitute a possible policy.

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