Vision 2030 in Action: How the 2018 Driving Reform Shaped Women’s Labor Participation in Urban and Rural Saudi Arabia

Aliza Narsidani

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i06.62562

Vision 2030 in Action: How the 2018 Driving Reform Shaped Women’s Labor Participation in Urban and Rural Saudi Arabia

Author(s)	Aliza Narsidani
Country	India
Abstract	The paper explores the differences in women's labor force participation (LFP) across the regions of Saudi Arabia after the 2018 driving ban was lifted for women, the reform that was part of the country’s Vision 2030 agenda to diversify the economy and attract more women to the workforce. The study is based on data from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) Labour Force Surveys for 2017 to 2023 and focuses on four regions—Riyadh, Makkah, Jazan, and Najran—that represent different urban-rural contexts. A descriptive analysis indicates a significant rise in female participation post-2018, with the largest increase in Riyadh (from 22% to 38%) and Makkah (from 19% to 30%), while rural areas like Jazan and Najran saw only limited growth. A linear regression model with time trends and region dummies, plus an interaction term for urban regions after 2018, shows that metropolitan areas had an additional seven percentage-point rise in female participation compared to rural areas. Although the national reforms largely removed structural barriers to women’s employment, the benefits were distributed unevenly across regions, depending on differences in infrastructure, job availability, and social norms. The study ends with a call to action for the implementation of supportive regional policies—especially in rural regions—to ensure equitable labor participation growth and attract the flow of gender economic reforms related to Vision 2030.
Field	Sociology > Economics
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 6, November-December 2025
Published On	2025-12-05
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i06.62562

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Vision 2030 in Action: How the 2018 Driving Reform Shaped Women’s Labor Participation in Urban and Rural Saudi Arabia

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