Women’s full integration into the economy is a desirable goal for equity and efficiency in OECD and non-OECD countries alike. The challenge for policy makers is to find ways and means to reduce barriers to greater gender equality in employment, thereby providing more opportunities to pursue individual aspirations and boost economic growth. Over the 2002-12 period the (unweighted) female labour force participation rate increased by just over 1 percentage point to 61% on average across the Asia/Pacific region (ILO, 2014).