Do women in Jordan want to work? How do men feel about working women in their family? To what extent do personal beliefs and societal expectations influence a woman’s decision to work and why should this matter in development interventions? The Jordanian government and development partners have invested heavily in promoting women’s economic inclusion. However, Jordan has the lowest female labor force participation (FLFP) in the world of a country not at war. As development practitioners working on issues related to social and economic inclusion in the Middle East and North Africa (MNA) region, the authors help us understand binding constraints that prevent excluded groups, such as women and youth, from having equal opportunity to improve their quality of life.

The study’s objective was to measure the extent to which social norms and beliefs concerning gender influence women’s access to and participation in the labor market. It aimed at producing insights on what barriers women could be facing, and the extent to which individual beliefs versus social norms play a role.