Such restrictions are particularly prevalent in the Middle East and South Asia, the regions with the world’s lowest rates of female labor force participation, 26 and 35 percent respectively. The gender gap exceeds 50 points in Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, and the hurdles to working women often involve a combination of written laws and cultural norms. In a New Yorker magazine piece, Peter Hessler profiled a Chinese entrepreneur who opened a cell phone factory in Egypt but had to shut it down within a year partly because his female employees—despite a strong work ethic—were compelled
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