TY - JOUR
T1 - On the mother and child labor nexus under credit constraints
T2 - Findings from rural India
AU - Sawada, Yasuyuki
AU - Kubo, Kensuke
AU - Fuwa, Nobuhiko
AU - Ito, Seiro
AU - Kurosaki, Takashi
PY - 2006/12
Y1 - 2006/12
N2 - There is an emerging consensus that lack of credit is a major cause of child labor and inequality in the intrahousehold distribution of resources. At the same time, patterns in how children spend their time appear to be strongly influenced by maternal employment decisions. This paper includes an assessment of the effect of credit constraints on maternal employment and that of maternal employment on the intrahousehold allocation of labor, a nexus which has been left unexplored by existing studies. Three findings emerge: (1) a mother is more likely to work outside when a household lacks resources, and her domestic labor can be easily replaced by other members, (2) credit market accessibility is one of the major determinants of maternal labor, and (3) elder daughters assume a large part of the burden of maternal employment by providing domestic labor. Under binding credit constraints, results of this study support the collective as opposed to the unitary model of households.
AB - There is an emerging consensus that lack of credit is a major cause of child labor and inequality in the intrahousehold distribution of resources. At the same time, patterns in how children spend their time appear to be strongly influenced by maternal employment decisions. This paper includes an assessment of the effect of credit constraints on maternal employment and that of maternal employment on the intrahousehold allocation of labor, a nexus which has been left unexplored by existing studies. Three findings emerge: (1) a mother is more likely to work outside when a household lacks resources, and her domestic labor can be easily replaced by other members, (2) credit market accessibility is one of the major determinants of maternal labor, and (3) elder daughters assume a large part of the burden of maternal employment by providing domestic labor. Under binding credit constraints, results of this study support the collective as opposed to the unitary model of households.
KW - Child labor
KW - Credit constraints
KW - Gender discrimination
KW - India
KW - Intrahousehold resource allocation
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1746-1049.2006.00025.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1746-1049.2006.00025.x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33750454111
VL - 44
SP - 465
EP - 499
JO - Developing Economies
JF - Developing Economies
SN - 0012-1533
IS - 4
ER -