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Labor force participation of rural women and the household’s nutrition: Panel data evidence from SAT India

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  • Sangwan, Nikita
  • Kumar, Shalander

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of women’s labor force participation in the household’s dietary diversity and the value of home-production. Using unique household panel data from Semi-Arid tropics of India, empirical estimations from a household fixed effects model reveal a positive significant effect of workdays of women on dietary diversity (overall and home-produced) and home-production. Our findings highlight a significant heterogeneity in the effect by type of work—paid and unpaid. The results for paid work are driven by a greater decision-making power emanating from labor force participation of women. Unpaid work, on the other hand, operates through the self-consumption of home-produced goods. We show that correcting for endogenous labor force participation of women leaves our conclusions unchanged. The results suggest that interventions boosting female labor force participation in paid activities are nutrition enhancing for the household and work towards improving women’s bargaining power within the household. Moreover, we rule out deleterious effects on health indicators of women despite increased time burden.

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  • Sangwan, Nikita & Kumar, Shalander, 2021. "Labor force participation of rural women and the household’s nutrition: Panel data evidence from SAT India," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:102:y:2021:i:c:s0306919221000968
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2021.102117
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    3. Vedika Inamdar & Anirudh Tagat & Aneree Parekh, 2023. "The Effect of Women’s Empowerment on Intimate Partner Violence and Child Nutrition Outcomes in India, Nepal, and Pakistan," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 18(1), pages 44-69, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor; Bargaining; Dietary diversity; Home-production; Gender;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

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