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The Effect of Domestic Work on Girls' Schooling: Evidence from Egypt

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  • Ragui Assaad
  • Deborah Levison
  • Nadia Zibani

Abstract

In Egypt, girls' work primarily takes the form of domestic tasks, which are not considered in many studies of child labor. This paper investigates the effect of girls' work on their school attendance. It uses a modified bivariate probit approach to estimate the effect of work on schooling while allowing for the simultaneous determination of the two outcomes. It presents evidence that the substantial burden of girls' domestic work leads to lower rates of school attendance. Policies that attempt to ban the labor-force work of children will have practically no effect on girls' education in Egypt, while interventions reducing the drudgery of household labor through, for example, improved water and sanitation infrastructure, have better prospects for success.

Suggested Citation

  • Ragui Assaad & Deborah Levison & Nadia Zibani, 2010. "The Effect of Domestic Work on Girls' Schooling: Evidence from Egypt," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 79-128.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:femeco:v:16:y:2010:i:1:p:79-128
    DOI: 10.1080/13545700903382729
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    2. Claus Pörtner, 2016. "Effects of parental absence on child labor and school attendance in the Philippines," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 103-130, March.
    3. Zietz, Susannah & de Hoop, Jacobus & Handa, Sudhanshu, 2018. "The role of productive activities in the lives of adolescents: Photovoice evidence from Malawi," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 246-255.
    4. Eva Dziadula & Danice Guzmán, 2020. "Sweeping It under the Rug: Household Chores and Misreporting of Child Labor," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(2), pages 901-905.
    5. Sophie Hedges & Rebecca Sear & Jim Todd & Mark Urassa & David Lawson, 2019. "Earning their keep? Fostering, children's education, and work in north-western Tanzania," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(10), pages 263-292.
    6. Webbink, Ellen & Smits, Jeroen & de Jong, Eelke, 2012. "Hidden Child Labor: Determinants of Housework and Family Business Work of Children in 16 Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 631-642.
    7. Rodrigo LOVATON DAVILA & Aine Seitz MCCARTHY & Dorothy GONDWE & Phatta KIRDRUAND & Uttan SHARMA, 2022. "Water, Walls, and Bicycles: Wealth Index Composition Using Census Microdata," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 88(1), pages 79-120, March.
    8. Abou, Pokou Edouard, 2015. "Incidence du travail domestique, des caractéristiques de l’école et du ménage sur les résultats scolaires des filles en Côte d’Ivoire [Incidence of domestic work, school and household characteristi," MPRA Paper 43976, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Deborah Levison & Deborah S. DeGraff & Esther W. Dungumaro, 2018. "Implications of Environmental Chores for Schooling: Children’s Time Fetching Water and Firewood in Tanzania," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(2), pages 217-234, April.
    10. Nadir Altinok & Abdurrahman Aydemir, 2015. "The Unfolding of Gender Gap in Education," Working Papers of BETA 2015-13, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    11. Abou, Pokou Edouard, 2016. "Does Domestic Work Affect the Academic Performance of Girls in Primary School in Côte d’Ivoire? Empirical Evidence from Probit Model," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 12(35), pages 368-381.
    12. Caroline Krafft & Safaa El-Kogali, 2014. "Inequalities in Early Childhood Development in the Middle East and North Africa," Working Papers 856, Economic Research Forum, revised Nov 2014.
    13. Posel, Dorrit & Grapsa, Erofili, 2017. "Time to learn? Time allocations among children in South Africa," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1-10.
    14. Martin Limbikani Mwale & Tony Mwenda Kamninga, 2024. "Unintended consequences of farm input subsidies: women’s contraceptive usage and knock-on effects on children," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 1-28, September.

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