womens role in yazd provinces labor markets during 1966-2002

today, unemployment has become a major problem in national level as well as in yazd province. the presence of high unemployment has caused considerable amount of wastage of active human resources of the society which otherwise could have been used in various prosperous activities. as a result this situation may lead to poverty, corruption, unequal income distribution and other negative consequences. meanwhile, it seems instability and lack of equilibrium in the labor market could be of major impediments to development in the province. hence, betterment of employment situation and lowering unemployment could decrease the undesired socio-economic and cultural consequences and lead to an all-out development. yet the improvement of labor markets and human resources planning, as the engine of development, requires precise studies. hence, this paper studies the role of women as a part of the society regarded seemingly suffering from less stability and more fragility in yazd provinces labor market. this paper analyses the trends of fluctuations and the influencing factors concerned in the rates of womens activities during 1966-2002. in this regard, the increase in rates of education and the number of female students is considered the major cause of decrease in womens activities. lower rates of urban womens activities, and as a result those of the women in total, have lead to the entry of more rural women to the labor market in younger ages compared to that of urban women. then the paper examines unemployment rates fluctuations among women as well as relative distribution of employed women categorized by main activity groups and sectors during the period mentioned. the major findings of this study are as follows: stabilization of mens role in the provinces labor market, higher unemployment rates of urban women compared to those of rural ones, relative balance of job opportunities distribution among women of urban and rural areas, more vulnerability of young and adolescent women in the labor market, the decrease of industrys role and the increase of service sectors share in womens employment, and the increase of educated womens share in unemployment.