Women’s employment and child health
Increasing female participation in paid labor and child malnutrition
The increase in female participation in the paid labor market is one of the most pronounced transitions that has occurred since the mid-1900s and is increasingly a global phenomenon. While this may improve women’s income and bargaining power, it may also increase their stress and decrease the time they have to spend with children (Duflo, 2003; Morrill 2011). Data from the Chitwan Valley Family Study (CVFS) in Nepal suggest that both factors are at play. Stakeholders concerned with improving child health outcomes should work to ensure
- women are paid enough to warrant their time away from their children; and
- that working women have the necessary support to exclusively breastfeed for the first six months of the child’s life.
