Labour Market Participation of Muslim Women in Germany and the Hijab

Labour market participation of Muslim women in Germany is comparatively low. Studies suggest that this applies in particular to Muslim women wearing a hijab. Against this background, we investigate the circumstances that make the hijab a critical factor in Muslim women’s labour market participation, and how Muslim women accommodate to the expectations in their working environments.

At least three explanations exist for this phenomenon. The first is an intrinsic one, referring to Muslim women’s attitudes. In Western societies, women wearing the hijab are expected to support traditional gender roles and have little interest to be part of the labour force. The second refers to structural pre-conditions of the labour market itself: getting access to the workforce heavily depends on women’s human capital and their family situation. The third is a systemic one, emphasising the role of discrimination that prevent Muslim women to become part of the labour force.

Having this in mind, we focus on four research questions:

- Does the labour market participation differ between Muslim women with and without hijab, even when taking differences in their human capital resources and in their family situations into account?

- Does the labour force participation rate in their country of origin play a role for Muslim immigrant women’s partaking in the German labour market? Do Muslim immigrant women transfer these cultural norms to their daughters born in Germany?

- Do perceptions of discriminatory practices relate to the labour force participation of Muslim women in Germany?

-Do expectations of labour market discrimination influence the decision to wear a hijab?

For analysing these questions, we rely on data of the survey “Muslim life in Germany 2022”, containing 1,442 interviews with Muslim women from 23 predominantly Muslim countries.