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What Did You Do All Day?: Maternal Education and Child Outcomes

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  • Tahir Andrabi
  • Jishnu Das
  • Asim Ijaz Khwaja

Abstract

Does maternal education have an impact on children's educational outcomes even at the very low levels found in many developing countries? We use instrumental variables analysis to address this issue in Pakistan. We find that children of mothers with some education spend 72 more minutes per day on educational activities at home. Mothers with some education also spend more time helping their children with school work. In the subset that have test scores available, children whose mothers have some education have higher scores by 0.23–0.35 standard deviations. We do not find support for channels through which education affects bargaining power within the household.

Suggested Citation

  • Tahir Andrabi & Jishnu Das & Asim Ijaz Khwaja, 2012. "What Did You Do All Day?: Maternal Education and Child Outcomes," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 47(4), pages 873-912.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:47:y:2012:iv:1:p:873-912
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