Study: “Demographic Change and Women’s Work and Earnings in Bangladesh”
PI(s): Nistha, Sinha
Affiliation(s): World Bank
Institutional Partner(s): World Bank
Project Dates:
Start: 2007
End: 2011
Data Source(s): Matlab Panel Data
Methods: Instrumental Variables
Geographic Location(s): Bangladesh

Description:
This study examines the impact of fertility changes and childbearing practices on women’s labor force participation in Bangladesh. The study separately identifies the impact of changes in fertility on changes in work by taking advantage of a family planning program selectively introduced in the subdistrict of Matlab, Bangladesh. The study tests the hypothesis that different patterns of fertility change have different consequences for women’s labor force participation, household welfare, and economic growth by analyzing data on married women from Matlab who were either exposed or not exposed to the program. In preliminary results, the researchers have found only weak associations between the number of children and female labor force participation in Matlab. Despite this weak relationship, they have seen that indicators for control over childbearing were significantly related to the sector in which a woman works, finding that women who gave birth recently are more likely to work in the informal sector and much less likely to work in the formal sector.

Research Outputs:
Lundberg, Mattias, Sinha, Nistha & Yoong, Joanne Kannan. (2010). Fertility and women’s labor force participation in a low-income rural economy.