Female labour force participation in West Malaysia with special reference to Kelantan and Trengganu

Abstract

This study is an investigation of the female labour force participation in West Malaysia, with special reference to the two east coast states of Kelantan and Trengganu. The main data used in the analyses is the 2 per cent Sample of the 1970 Housing and Population Census of Malaysia. The censuses of 1947 and 1957 were also used when looking into the trends of the female economic activity. The principal findings are as follows. Female labour force participation in Kelantan and Trengganu assumes an upward trend and the rates tend to rise with economic development. This is mainly due to a rise in education and the rate of literacy. A feature of the labour force participation in this area is the shift from agricultural to non-agricultural industries. This is mainly due to changes in the attitudes and values of the people. The levels and patterns of female economic activity in Kelantan and Trengganu differ from the whole of West Malaysia because of the differences in the levels of development between the two. Sectoral and racial differentials seem to be consistent with the female labour force participation in these two traditional states of West Malaysia.