Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, women have exhibited higher levels of depression and anxiety than men across nations and social classes
NCAER - NATIONAL DATA INNOVATION CENTRE
Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, women have exhibited higher levels of depression and anxiety than men across nations and social classes
Investments in clean fuel and piped water are often recommended in developing countries on health grounds. This paper examines an alternative channel, the relationship between piped water and access to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and children’s educational outcomes. Results based on the second round of the India Human Development Survey (2011–12) for rural India show that children aged 6–14 years, living in households that rely on free collection of water and cooking fuel, have lower mathematics scores and benefit from lower educational expenditures than children living in households that do not collect water and fuel. Moreover, gender inequality in this unpaid work burden also matters. In households where the burden of collection is disproportionately borne by women, child outcomes are significantly lower, particularly for boys. The endogeneity of choice to collect or purchase water and cooking fuel are modelled via Heckman selection and the entropy balancing method.
Social Science & Medicine, Volume 280, July 2021
In developing countries, labor out-migration has led to millions of married couples living apart from each other. Male out-migration brings economic benefits to the families in places of origin, but also leads to profound changes in the lives of the left-behind wives. It is unclear how the husband’s out-migration influences the health of wives, let alone the mechanisms through which any effects are transmitted. Using data from the Indian Human Development Survey (2004–2005 and 2011–2012), we estimated lagged dependent variable models (N = 19,737) to assess the health impact of husbands’ out-migration for women in India. The results showed that left-behind wives had lower self-rated health than wives of non-migrants. Part of this negative health impact was driven by the low remittances sent by the migrant husbands. For both women in nuclear families and women in extended families, the negative health impact was partially attributable to women’s added responsibilities, such as animal care and managing a bank account. For women in nuclear families, the negative health effect of husbands’ migration has been partially suppressed by women’s increased autonomy.
Can the Generation Equality Forum ensure two basic rights for women: The right to safety and peace at home, and to decent work outside of it?
Children in households without piped water or LPG have lower learning outcomes. This negative impact is greater when women bear a greater share of the burden of unpaid work compared to men.
