Gender differences in work-schooling decisions in rural North India

Abstract

Based on a rural sample of North Indian children and adolescents, this paper addresses the determinants of participation in work and schooling. The empirical model includes market and domestic work as separate alternatives to schooling in a trivariate probit framework, allowing also for combinations of these activities as well as idleness. This differentiation sheds new light on gender differences in the work-school decisions in North India. While more traditional determinants (like wealth or parental education) mostly affect the trade-off between schooling and the gender specific work activity (market work for boys and domestic work for girls), monetary incentives (wages and schooling costs) are more closely related to market work for both sexes. Girls are also more likely to work for the market if their economic contribution can be made within the family (for instance if the household owns animals). Proxies for cultural factors turn out to play especially a role for participation in the gender non-specific work activities; for instance, overall female labor force participation shifts girls’ activities from domestic towards market work.