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The 'Nowhere' Children: Patriarchy and the Role of Girls in India's Rural Economy

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Author Info
Uma S. Kambhampati () (Department of Economics, University of Reading)
Raji Rajan (Department of Economics, University of Reading)

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Abstract

The paper is motivated by an apparent paradox – boys seem to participate more both in the labour market and in school than girls. This pattern breaks down once we take the household work done by girls into account. In this paper, we find that there is symmetry between the factors that make women’s contribution to the household economy less ‘visible’ than men’s and the factors that reduce girl’s involvement in outside work. Both are related to the kind of sociocultural environment in which households operate in India. Analysing the School, Work and household chores options for girls, we find that the kinship system prevalent in different regions as well as amongst different religions and castes is a significant determinant of these choices. In addition, we find that increases in household income do not decrease the probability of girls doing household chores, reinforcing our conclusion that non-economic factors are important. Our results confirm, once again, that while daughter’s labour complements mother’s work within family enterprises, it substitutes for mothers in household chores when the mother works outside the home.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Henley Business School, Reading University in its series Economics & Management Discussion Papers with number em-dp2004-21.

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Length: 33 pages
Date of creation: 2004
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Handle: RePEc:rdg:emxxdp:em-dp2004-21

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Related research
Keywords: Child work; Girl child; kinship systems; patriarchy; household chores; India;

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References listed on IDEAS
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  2. Stephen V. Cameron & James J. Heckman, 2001. "The Dynamics of Educational Attainment for Black, Hispanic, and White Males," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(3), pages 455-499, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Stephen V. Cameron & James J. Heckman, 1998. "Life Cycle Schooling and Dynamic Selection Bias: Models and Evidence for Five Cohorts of American Males," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(2), pages 262-333, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. James J. Heckman, 2001. "Micro Data, Heterogeneity, and the Evaluation of Public Policy: Nobel Lecture," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(4), pages 673-748, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Cigno, Alessandro & Rosati, Furio C., 2000. "Why do Indian Children Work, and is it Bad for Them?," IZA Discussion Papers 115, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  7. Malathy Duraisamy, 2000. "Child Schooling and Child Work in India," Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers 0837, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
  8. Basu, Kaushik & Van, Pham Hoang, 1998. "The Economics of Child Labor," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 412-27, June.
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  11. Uma Kambhampati & Raji Rajan, 2004. "Economic Growth: A Panacea for Child Labour?," Economics & Management Discussion Papers em-dp2004-12, Henley Business School, Reading University.
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  12. Blunch, Niels-Hugo & Verner, Dorte, 2000. "Revisiting the link between poverty and child labor - the Ghanaian experience," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2488, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Carneiro, Pedro & Heckman, James J., 2002. "The Evidence on Credit Constraints in Post-Secondary Schooling," IZA Discussion Papers 518, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Nielsen, H.S., 1998. "Child Labor and School Attendance: Two Joint Decisions," Papers 98-15, Centre for Labour Market and Social Research, Danmark-.
  15. Sarmistha Pal, 2003. "How Much of the Gender Difference in Child School Enrolment Can Be Explained? Evidence from Rural India," HEW 0309004, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  16. Sonia Bhalotra & Christopher Heady, 2003. "Child Farm Labor: The Wealth Paradox," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 197-227, December.
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  17. Theodore W. Schultz, 1974. "Fertility and Economic Values," NBER Chapters, in: Economics of the Family: Marriage, Children, and Human Capital, pages 3-22 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  18. Rosenzweig, Mark R & Evenson, Robert E, 1977. "Fertility, Schooling, and the Economic Contribution of Children in Rural India: An Econometric Analysis," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 45(5), pages 1065-79, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Uma Kambhampati, 2004. "Does Child Work Decrease with Parental Income?: The Luxury Axiom Revisited in India," Economics & Management Discussion Papers em-dp2004-02, Henley Business School, Reading University.
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