Child Schooling and Work Decisions in India

The Role of Household and Regional Gender Equity

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12547516
AutoresUma Kambhampati (0000-0001-5906-2394, University of Reading, autor correspondente), Uma Sarada Kambhampati
Ano2009
Volume15
Fascículo4
Páginas77-112
Data de publicação2009-09-15
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoFeminist Economics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1354-5701 • E-ISSN: 1466-4372
EditoraTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13545700903153997
OpenAlexW2140281763
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas16
Referências citadas20

This paper tests three hypotheses about how mothers' autonomy in India affects their children's participation in school and the labor market. To do so it extends the concept of mothers' autonomy beyond the household to include the constraints imposed by the extent of gender equity in the regions in which these women live. This study began with the expectation that increased autonomy for Indian mothers living in heterosexual households would increase child schooling and decrease child work. However, the results are mixed, indicating that mother's autonomy can be reinforced or constrained by the environment. The paper concludes that mothers and fathers in India make different decisions for girls vis-à-vis boys and that the variables reflecting mothers' autonomy vary in their impact, so that mothers' level of education relative to fathers' is not often statistically significant, while mothers' increased contributions to household expenditure decrease the probability of schooling and girls' work

Autonomy · Demographic economics · Economics · Equity (law · Gender equity · Political science · Work (physics · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Income, Poverty, and Inequality · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Psychology