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Old-age pensions and female labour supply in India

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  • Vidhya Unnikrishnan
  • Kunal Sen

Abstract

Whether cash transfers have unintended behavioural effects on the recipient household's labour supply is of considerable policy interest. We examine the 'intent to treat effect' of the Indira Gandhi National Old-Age Pension Scheme on prime-age women's labour supply decisions in India, where female labour force participation continues to decline over time. We find that having a pension-eligible individual in the household increases the probability of working by 3.2 percentage points for women aged 20-50, with the effect stronger for urban women.

Suggested Citation

  • Vidhya Unnikrishnan & Kunal Sen, 2020. "Old-age pensions and female labour supply in India," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-90, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2020-90
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Yannick Markhof & Isabela Franciscon & Nicolò Bird & Pedro Arruda, 2021. "Social assistance programmes in South Asia: an evaluation of socio-economic impacts," Research Report 62, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.

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    Keywords

    Childcare; Employment; Income effect; Labour supply; Women; Pensions;
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