Self-driven women: gendered mobility, employment, and the lift of the driving ban in Saudi Arabia

Abstract A key feature of current economic policies in Saudi Arabia is the inclusion of women in the labor market. The lift of the ban on women driving was expected to have a positive impact on this goal. Using longitudinal interviews with Saudi university students (both men and women), we find that the ban on women driving configured individual mobility as family mobility, which affected women’s options and men’s obligations. Secondly, we find that mobility constraints, moderated by socioeconomic status, continue to restrict women´s mobility even after the lift of the ban, reinforced by societal and family opposition. Finally, we show that the mobility constraints that Saudi women face affect their labor market preferences, opportunities, choices, and outcomes. While remaining conservative social attitudes continue to restrict women’s mobility, women’s increased labor force participation erodes those attitudes, creating a reinforcing mechanism in which increased mobility and labor market access strengthen each other.