Women’s Economic Participation, Time Use, and Access to Childcare in Urban Bangladesh

Abstract

This study documents the labor market outcomes and time-use patterns of women in urban Bangladesh. Using survey data collected in 2018 in low-income neighborhoods of Dhaka, the paper finds that women with children aged 0–5 years have lower likelihood of labor market participation, lower likelihood of being employed, and lower likelihood of being an earner, compared to women with no children and women with children aged 6 years or older. While all mothers of young children face a labor market penalty, those who have young children but have no access to childcare support face the largest penalty. Time-use patterns indicate that mothers of young children generally spend less time on market work and more time on unpaid work, compared to those without children or with older children. When mothers have access to childcare support, they tend to spend more time on market work than those without childcare support, yet still devote the same amount of time to unpaid work as mothers without childcare support. They are also equally likely to perform childcare as a secondary activity, which could impact both their productivity and the quality of care they provide.