Women's assets and intrahousehold allocation in rural Bangladesh

This paper examines how differences in the bargaining power of husband and wife affect the distribution of consumption expenditures in rural Bangladeshi households. Two alternative measures of assets are used: current assets and the value of assets brought to marriage. Results show that both assets at marriage and current assets are strongly determined by the human capital of husband and wife and the characteristics of their origin families. For both husband and wife, parents' landholdings are a consistent determinant of both assets at marriage and current assets. Contrary to the unitary model, husband's and wife's assets have different effects on the allocation of expenditures within the household. Wife's assets have a positive and significant effect on the share of expenditures on children's clothing and education. This result is robust to the choice of asset measure and estimation procedure. After endogeneity of assets is accounted for, husband's current assets have a positive and significant effect on the food expenditure share. Neglecting the endogeneity of asset measures to individual and parental characteristics may lead to biased estimates of the impact of men's and women's assets on expenditure shares.Family Economic aspects. ,Gender issues. ,Assets. ,Bangladesh Social conditions. ,Households Bangladesh. ,

Women's assets and intrahousehold allocation in rural Bangladesh

This paper examines how differences in the bargaining power of husband and wife affect the distribution of consumption expenditures in rural Bangladeshi households. Two alternative measures of assets are used: current assets and the value of assets brought to marriage. Results show that both assets at marriage and current assets are strongly determined by the human capital of husband and wife and the characteristics of their origin families. For both husband and wife, parents' landholdings are a consistent determinant of both assets at marriage and current assets. Contrary to the unitary model, husband's and wife's assets have different effects on the allocation of expenditures within the household. Wife's assets have a positive and significant effect on the share of expenditures on children's clothing and education. This result is robust to the choice of asset measure and estimation procedure. After endogeneity of assets is accounted for, husband's current assets have a positive and significant effect on the food expenditure share. Neglecting the endogeneity of asset measures to individual and parental characteristics may lead to biased estimates of the impact of men's and women's assets on expenditure shares.Family Economic aspects. ,Gender issues. ,Assets. ,Bangladesh Social conditions. ,Households Bangladesh. ,

Childcare and work

"This study investigates the effects of childcare on work and earnings of mothers in poor neighborhoods of Guatemala City. Recognizing that mothe'rs work status may depend on the availability of childcare, decisions to participate in the labor force and to use formal day care are modeled to allow for the possibility that they may be jointly determined. We then explore the impact of childcare prices on mothers' earnings, conditional on her decision to work. Also explored is whether a mother's "status" within her household (as measured by the value of the assets she brought to her marriage) influences her entry into the labor force.....Our results indicate that participation in the labor market and use of formal day care are, in fact, joint decisions for mothers. Life cycle and household demographic factors have important effects on both decisions. Maternal education is an important determinant of utilization of formal day care, but does not have large effects on whether she works for pay or not. Higher household wealth reduces her chances of working, presumably via an income effect. However, the value of assets she brought to her marriage increases the likelihood of her working....." from Authors' Abstract

Does subsidized childcare help poor working women in urban areas?

High urbanization rates in Latin America are accompanied by an increase in women's participation in the labor force and the number of households headed by single mothers. Reliable and affordable childcare alternatives are thus becoming increasingly important in urban areas. The Hogares Comunitarios Program (HCP), established in Guatemala City in 1991, was a direct response to the increasing need of poor urban dwellers for substitute childcare. This government-sponsored pilot program was designed as a strategy to alleviate poverty by providing working parents with low-cost, quality childcare within their community. This paper presents preliminary findings from an evaluation of the HCP carried out in 1998 in urban slums of Guatemala City. The evaluation included both an operations (or process) evaluation and an impact evaluation. Key findings of the operations evaluation are summarized, and preliminary findings of the impact evaluation on children's dietary intakes are presented. Aspects related to the targeting, coverage, and cost of the program are also discussed, and the patterns of childcare use by nonbeneficiary households and their costs are described.Urbanization Latin America. ,Women Employment Guatemala. ,Child care Developing countries Evaluation. ,Urban poor Services for. ,Evaluation. ,Children Nutrition. ,Poverty alleviation. ,

Does subsidized childcare help poor working women in urban areas?

High urbanization rates in Latin America are accompanied by an increase in women's participation in the labor force and the number of households headed by single mothers. Reliable and affordable childcare alternatives are thus becoming increasingly important in urban areas. The Hogares Comunitarios Program (HCP), established in Guatemala City in 1991, was a direct response to the increasing need of poor urban dwellers for substitute childcare. This government-sponsored pilot program was designed as a strategy to alleviate poverty by providing working parents with low-cost, quality childcare within their community. This paper presents preliminary findings from an evaluation of the HCP carried out in 1998 in urban slums of Guatemala City. The evaluation included both an operations (or process) evaluation and an impact evaluation. Key findings of the operations evaluation are summarized, and preliminary findings of the impact evaluation on children's dietary intakes are presented. Aspects related to the targeting, coverage, and cost of the program are also discussed, and the patterns of childcare use by nonbeneficiary households and their costs are described.Urbanization Latin America. ,Women Employment Guatemala. ,Child care Developing countries Evaluation. ,Urban poor Services for. ,Evaluation. ,Children Nutrition. ,Poverty alleviation. ,

The Guatemala Community Day Care Program: an example of effective urban programming

Urban programming, Child care, Community Daycare Centers Program, Childcare and work, Gender,

Childcare, mothers\u27 work, and earnings: Findings from the urban slums of Guatemala City

This study investigates the effects of childcare on work and earnings of mothers in the slums of Guatemala City. Recognizing that mother’s work behavior may depend on the availability of childcare, the modeling approach allows participation in the labor force and use of formal daycare to be jointly determined. We also investigate whether a mother’s “status” within her household (as measured by the value of the assets she brought to her marriage) influences her entry into the labor force. Finally, we explore the impact of childcare prices on a mother’s earnings, conditional on her decision to work. The study uses a survey of 1,363 randomly selected mothers (working and nonworking) with preschool children carried out in 1999 by the International Food Policy Research Institute. In this sample, 37 percent of mothers with preschoolers worked for pay in the 30 days before the survey. Mothers were employed in a variety of occupations and sectors and used an assortment of different informal and formal childcare arrangements. Our results indicate that participation in the labor force and use of formal daycare are in fact joint decisions for mothers. Life-cycle and household demographic actors have important effects on both decisions. Maternal education is an important determinant of use of formal daycare, but does not have large effects on whether a mother works for pay or not. Higher household wealth reduces her chances of working. However, the higher the value of assets she brought to her marriage, the more likely she is to be working. Greater travel time from home to formal daycare reduces its use. Controlling for endogeneity of labor market participation and formal daycare use, childcare prices have no impact on maternal earnings. This suggests that policies to increase the availability of formal daycare in poor urban areas have the potential to raise labor force participation rates of mothers in such neighborhoods, but not necessarily their earnings conditional upon their entry into the labor force

Women, weather, and woes: The triangular dynamics of female-headed households, economic vulnerability, and climate variability in South Africa

Existing gender inequality is believed to be heightened as a result of weather events and climate-related disasters that are likely to become more common in the future. We show that an already marginalized group—female-headed households in South Africa—is differentially affected by relatively modest levels of variation in rainfall, which households experience on a year-to-year basis. Data from three waves of the National Income Dynamics Survey in South Africa allow us to follow incomes of 4,162 households from 2006 to 2012. By observing how household income is affected by variation in rainfall relative to what is normally experienced during the rainy season in each district, our study employs a series of naturally occurring experiments that allow us to identify causal effects. We find that households where a single head can be identified based on residency or work status are more vulnerable to climate variability than households headed by two adults. Single male-headed households are more vulnerable because of lower initial earnings and, to a lesser extent, other household characteristics that contribute to economic disadvantages. However, this can only explain some of the differential vulnerability of female-headed households. This suggests that there are traits specific to female-headed households, such as limited access to protective social networks or other coping strategies, which makes this an important dimension of marginalization to consider for further research and policy in South Africa and other national contexts. Households headed by widows, never-married women, and women with a non-resident spouse (e.g., “left-behind” migrant households) are particularly vulnerable. We find vulnerable households only in districts where rainfall has a large effect on agricultural yields, and female-headed households remain vulnerable when accounting for dynamic impacts of rainfall on income

Childcare, mothers\u27 work, and earnings: Findings from the urban slums of Guatemala City [Arabic]

This study investigates the effects of childcare on work and earnings of mothers in the slums of Guatemala City. Recognizing that mother’s work behavior may depend on the availability of childcare, the modeling approach allows participation in the labor force and use of formal daycare to be jointly determined. We also investigate whether a mother’s “status” within her household (as measured by the value of the assets she brought to her marriage) influences her entry into the labor force. Finally, we explore the impact of childcare prices on a mother’s earnings, conditional on her decision to work. The study uses a survey of 1,363 randomly selected mothers (working and nonworking) with preschool children carried out in 1999 by the International Food Policy Research Institute. In this sample, 37 percent of mothers with preschoolers worked for pay in the 30 days before the survey. Mothers were employed in a variety of occupations and sectors and used an assortment of different informal and formal childcare arrangements. Our results indicate that participation in the labor force and use of formal daycare are in fact joint decisions for mothers. Life-cycle and household demographic actors have important effects on both decisions. Maternal education is an important determinant of use of formal daycare, but does not have large effects on whether a mother works for pay or not. Higher household wealth reduces her chances of working. However, the higher the value of assets she brought to her marriage, the more likely she is to be working. Greater travel time from home to formal daycare reduces its use. Controlling for endogeneity of labor market participation and formal daycare use, childcare prices have no impact on maternal earnings. This suggests that policies to increase the availability of formal daycare in poor urban areas have the potential to raise labor force participation rates of mothers in such neighborhoods, but not necessarily their earnings conditional upon their entry into the labor force