Household Resource Allocation Research Articles

Changing gender norms and household resource allocation

Abstract Traditional gender norms that assume gendered household resource allocation are persistent. What happens when society-wide gender norms begin to change? By collecting newspaper articles about feminism in the past 10 years in Korea and exploiting their region–year variations, we first provide evidence that an explosive increase in newspaper coverage of feminism after the mid-2010s caused a steep change toward egalitarian attitudes among women. Then, we construct a Bartik IV with the newspapers’ market shares and growth of the feminism-related articles to show that the change in women’s perceptions of gender norms induced by the media-influence affected both spouses’ time use in household labor and women’s welfare. The wives influenced by those articles substantially reduced their household labor and outsourced them to the market, while the husbands’ participation did not increase as much. The wives’ marital happiness was improved by replacing housework burdens with shared activities with their husbands.

How social norms and values shape household healthcare expenditures and resource allocation: Insights from India

We present a novel perspective on thinking about and studying healthcare spending in contexts where few health-related financial risk protection mechanisms exist and where out-of-pocket spending by households is the norm. Drawing on interviews conducted across 20 villages in two states of India, we illustrate and problematize how a complex interplay of social norms and cultural factors underpin spending decisions within households in such contexts. While our analysis draws on the fieldwork at large, we present our findings through selected narratives - stories of patients suffering from chronic breathlessness. We engage with and reveal the various ways in which social norms dynamically drive this household economy, and shape resource allocation-related decisions. We conclude that in health system contexts where out-of-pocket spending by households is the norm, it is essential to recognise the pragmatic and calculative nature of intra-household allocation of resources, and how it involves bargaining and negotiations at the intersection of social norms, economic class, caste, gender, age, and productive status. And at the same time, how all of this occurs within the economy of the family, and how it plays out differently for different members of a family is also important to recognise. Such recognition can not only help one better appreciate how this household level economy may sometimes maintain and perpetuate entrenched hierarchies and gender inequities, crucially, it can help target health related social protection policies and strategies and make them more responsive to the needs of the most vulnerable in the society and within households.

Inclusive diets within planetary boundaries

Inclusive diets within planetary boundaries

The predominance of investment in girls’ after-school education in China and the logic of family preferences

The gender gap within families regarding access to educational resources is an important social determinant of gender inequality. Contradicting the conventional “preferring sons to daughters” model of household resource allocation, many studies find that Chinese families nowadays prefer to invest in girls’ after-school education. This study focuses on this empirical fact that has not been examined in depth previously, and attempts to explore its key influence mechanisms. Starting from the theoretical context of intergenerational resource allocation, the article suggests two explanatory hypotheses – “change in family gender preferences” and “divergence between mothers’ and fathers’ gender preferences” – in the analysis of the succession of intergenerational preference patterns. An analysis of the China Education Panel Survey (2013–2014) data on families with male siblings and parents with different education levels is conducted. The statistical results show robustly that the presence of brothers in the family does not negatively impact girls’ access to after-school education, that in urban families girls have a pronounced advantage over boys, and that, overall, there has been a tentative shift from “son preference” to “daughter preference” in Chinese families. In addition, under reciprocal controls, the father's increased education has no significant effect on children but a significant positive effect of the mother's increased education is observed on girls’ access to after-school education, and the latter effect is even more pronounced among younger parents, exhibiting a clear pattern of “dual preferences”. These findings, at the empirical level, reveal that the increased family utility of girls compared to boys and the enhanced status of mothers in the process of social change have driven a shift in the logic of family gender preferences.

Linkages between men's wealth status and the ideal number of children: A trend and multilevel analysis of survey data in Nigeria.

Most African societies practice a patriarchal family system that endows a man with authority and dominance in the family and society with a defined role of being the breadwinner of the home. A man is expected to have a great influence in determining the ideal number of children in the family and take a domineering role in decision-making, especially those related to household resource allocation. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between men's wealth status and an ideal number of children. The study used secondary data from the National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) from 2003 to 2018. The objectives were achieved using descriptive and inferential statistics, including frequency, mean, ANOVA, and multilevel analysis techniques. Wealth status significantly influenced the ideal number of children considering the crude and adjusted regression analysis. After adjusting for individual-level and contextual factors, the odd ratio of ideal number of children was significantly lower among men in the richest categories of the wealth index. Moreover, men with two wives and above, uneducated men, Northern residents, men living in high community family norms, low community family planning, high community poverty, and low community level of education desired a high number of children. The analyses suggest the need for a consideration of community structures to provide lucrative employment for men and would experience an appreciable fertility decline in line with the objectives and targets stated in Nigeria's population policies and programmes.

The Impact of Household Migration on the Intergenerational Educational Mobility: Based on the Perspective of Adolescent Development.

Improving intergenerational mobility is crucial for enhancing the efficacy of human capital, ensuring social vitality, and supporting sustainable long-term economic growth. Based on the China Labor-force Dynamic Survey (CLDS) of 2014, this paper empirically examines the effect of adolescent household migration on intergenerational educational mobility by using a fixed-effect model. The study found that: (1) Household migration in the adolescent period significantly improves intergenerational educational mobility. (2) The quality and quantity of education of offspring are the channels through which household migration improves the intergenerational educational mobility of the household. (3) There are significant differences between urban and rural areas, gender, and household resource allocation in the effect of adolescent household migration on intergenerational educational mobility. As the majority of poor households are unable to improve intergenerational mobility through migration due to its costs and institutional barriers, this paper suggests that the government should concentrate on reducing regional disparities in educational resources, advancing rural education reform, and enhancing social security.

Manufacturing employment and women’s agency: Evidence from Lesotho 2004–2014

This paper examines the impact of manufacturing employment on women’s health and decision-making power within households in Lesotho. Under the US African Growth and Opportunity Act of 2000, the employment of women in ready-made garment (RMG) factories in new industrial zones greatly increased. Subsequent shocks to international demand for textile products created by the phase-out of the Multi-Fibre Agreement and the 2008 Financial Crisis temporarily reduced well-paid RMG work opportunities. Women residing closer to the industrial zones were particularly affected. These changes are exploited for identification of causal impacts. Employment in the RMG sector is found to substantially increase women’s say in decisions about the allocation of household resources and own health.

Climate Shocks, Household Resource Allocation, and Vulnerability to Poverty

Climate change is widespread, rapid, and is intensifying. Using Chinese disaster data and the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data, this study examines the impact of climate shocks on the vulnerability of farm households to poverty and the mechanism of household resource allocation in this process. The results show that (a) climate shocks can significantly increase the poverty vulnerability of farm households. (b) The effect of climate shocks on farm household poverty vulnerability is regionally and individually heterogeneous. Climate non-security zones, risk-averse farmers, and low social capital farmers are more vulnerable to climate shocks and fall into poverty. (c) The mediating effects suggest that climate shocks affect the poverty vulnerability of farm households by influencing their developmental investment, productive investment, and precautionary saving. The paper finally concludes and discusses some policy implications in the national response to climate change and transformation of farmers’ livelihoods.

The Childhood Origins of Climate-Induced Mobility and Immobility.

The literature on climate exposures and human migration has focused largely on assessing short-term responses to temperature and precipitation shocks. In this paper, we suggest that this common coping strategies model can be extended to account for mechanisms that link environmental conditions to migration behavior over longer periods of time. We argue that early-life climate exposures may affect the likelihood of migration from childhood through early adulthood by influencing parental migration, community migration networks, human capital development, and decisions about household resource allocation, all of which are correlates of geographic mobility. After developing this conceptual framework, we evaluate the corresponding hypotheses using a big data approach, analyzing 20 million individual georeferenced records from 81 censuses implemented across 31 countries in tropical Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. For each world region, we estimate regression models that predict lifetime migration (a change in residence between birth and ages 30-39) as a function of temperature and precipitation anomalies in early life, defined as the year prior to birth through age four. Results suggest that early-life climate is systematically associated with changes in the probability of lifetime migration in most regions of the tropics, with the largest effects observed in sub-Saharan Africa. In East and Southern Africa, the effects of temperature shocks vary by sex and educational attainment and in a manner that suggests women and those of lower socioeconomic status are most vulnerable. Finally, we compare our main results with models using alternative measures of climate exposures. This comparison suggests climate exposures during the prenatal period and first few years of life are particularly (but not exclusively) salient for lifetime migration, which is most consistent with the hypothesized human capital mechanism.

Crowding Out Effects of Alcohol Consumption Expenditure on Household Resource Allocation in Malawi.

The study used Quasi maximum likelihood estimation (QMLE) on a nationally representative household level data set to estimate the effect of alcohol consumption expenditure on a set of expenditure proportions of other commodities. The results indicate that, the low-income, including the rural population, spent proportionately more on alcohol than their well-off and urban counterparts. Furthermore, the consumption of alcohol crowded-out expenditures on consumer non-durable (food and beverages), durable (housing) and essential services (education). The crowding out of these expenditures clearly has negative impacts on the wellbeing of individuals within households and communities through misallocated household resources. The strong, unequivocal message coming out of the results obtained in this study is that certainly for poorer countries alcohol consumption is inimical to household poverty reduction.

And roses too: How “Better Work” facilitates gender empowerment in global supply chains

AbstractWomen's increasing entry into paid work has not been accompanied by a corresponding change in the gender division of unpaid labor in the household and community. Though women participate in the labor market, the expectation is that they will also take responsibility for the household. To what degree does women's waged work in the garment industry transform gender norms and dynamics in their home lives? To what extent do the choices they make translate to their household‐level empowerment? This practice‐focused article examines these questions by looking at data collected on gender dynamics at work and at home in the clothing industries of Bangladesh, Cambodia, Kenya, Lesotho, and Vietnam. While women's empowerment through garment sector employment remains circumscribed by low wages, financial insecurity, and gendered expectations, we find that international interventions, namely the International Labor Organization's Better Work program, has expanded women's abilities to exert agency over their earnings within the context of household resource allocation and has decreased the negative effects of ongoing and systemic financial precarity.

Assessment of Gender Influence in Household and Resources Allocation: A Case Study Utengule - Usongwe Ward in Mbeya Rural District, Tanzania

The aim of this study was to assess gender influence in household resource allocation in Mbeya Rural District. The process of resources allocation at household level involves two different genders whereby male dominates female in all spheres of life. It was discovered through literature that women were discriminated, oppressed and do not access to, control and inheriting land by customary law. This study was carried out in Mbeya Rural District, which involved 196 households comprised (of ) married, widow/widower, cohabiting and divorced in Utengule-Usongwe ward. The data were collected using questionnaires, interviews, Focus Group Discussions and documentary reviews. The data were edited, coded, and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 16.0 computer program. The qualitative data were analyzed and integrated in the report according to the objectives of the study. Th e fi ndings of the study revealed that, the majority of the respondents had knowledge about the cultural infl uence in the households which discriminate and oppress women’s rights and favour men as superior over women. The respondents were also aware about the tendency of the societies to allocate the available resources at household level more to boys than girls. The study further revealed that the majority of decision makers and heads of the households were men. However, the study confirmed that culture plays a great role in discriminating and oppressing women at household level. The findings show clearly that gender inequality is mainly based in relation to access and control over domestic resources in the household, whereby men are still dominating all sphere in the households. Basing on the findings, the study recommends that there is a need to filter and alleviate the harmful elements in culture which lead to ill-treatment of women and hinder women’s rights at household level. Also there is a need to teach statutory laws in primary and secondary schools in order to raise awareness about gender equality.

Implications of household tobacco and alcohol use on child health and women's welfare in six low and middle-income countries: An analysis from a gender perspective

Objective.To study the implications of household tobacco and alcohol use on child health and women's welfare using a gender lens in Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, and Nigeria with varied geographical and cultural characteristics in the pattern of tobacco and alcohol use.Methods.We identified child health and women's welfare outcomes that may be impacted by tobacco and alcohol use, with a focus on the crowding-out effects on household resource allocation. For child health indicators, we focussed on engagement in preventative care, nutrition, and responses to acute illness. For women, we focused on access to resources for health-seeking and intimate partner violence (IPV). We used logistic regression to determine the association between household gender tobacco and/or alcohol use on child health and women's welfare, using data from six nationally-representative Demographic and Health Surveys, with each having a sample size of 5000–30,000 households and conducted after 2010.Results.Children in households where men and women use tobacco are significantly less likely to receive the full schedule of Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus (DPT) vaccine in India, Indonesia, and Jordan (Odds ratio or OR; ORIndia = 0.67, p < 0.001; ORIndonesia = 0.55, p = 0.028; ORJordan = 0.45, p = 0.048), and all basic vaccinations as well as receive appropriate treatment for fever/diarrhoea in India and Indonesia (all basic vaccinations: ORIndia = 0.78, p < 0.001, ORIndonesia = 0.43, p = 0.009; treatment for fever/diarrhoea: ORIndia = 0.65, p < 0.001; ORIndonesia = 0.50, p = 0.038). In most countries, women are significantly more likely to experience IPV when their husband/partner uses tobacco and/or alcohol.Conclusions.Across a diverse set of countries with varied cultural characteristics which affect the uptake and use of tobacco and alcohol, tobacco and alcohol use are associated with crowding-out of acute and preventative health-related behaviours and crowding-in of harmful behaviours. This has significant implications for tobacco and alcohol control programmes, and positions tobacco and alcohol control as central to human capital initiatives and in achieving health for all.

“Selective two-child” policy and household resource allocation

This paper estimates the effect of the “selective two-child” policy (The “selective two-child” policy allowed couples to have two children if one member of the couple was an only child (1-OC family)). on the resource allocation between generations amongst urban households in China by referring to the nationally representative China Household Finance Survey (CHFS). The results of propensity score matching (PSM) and difference-in-difference (DID) show that the total and per capita expenditures on children education are reduced significantly after the implementation of the “selective two-child” policy, testifying to the quantity-quality trade-off of children in Chinese families. Nevertheless, the financial support for the elderly not living in the household does not decrease, suggesting no intergenerational competition. Furthermore, the total and per capita expenditures for the qualified families decreased significantly, which indicates that the loosening of fertility policy may lead to new-oriented and unintended precautionary saving motives.

Altruism and efficient allocations in three-generation households

In this paper we test the efficiency of family resource allocation in three-generation households. Understanding how the so-called “squeezed middle” generation allocates resources towards the children and grandparents in the household will be increasingly important as populations age, and more elderly people become dependent upon their relations for financial support. Despite a large literature on household resource allocation in two-generation households (parents and children), to the best of our knowledge ours is the first study that includes the third generation. We present a theoretical model and conduct a discrete choice experiment in the context of reductions in the lifetime risk of developing coronary artery disease to verify the efficient resource allocation hypothesis. The data is obtained from a large sample of the Polish population. The sample consists of the middle generation members of three-generation households and hence WTP represents household value from the perspective of the “squeezed middle” parent. The results imply that household resource allocation is efficient. This has implications for understanding the likely response to government financial support aimed at supporting elderly people and their families.

The Other Half: An Examination of Monthly Food Pantry Cycles in the Context of SNAP Benefits

AbstractThis study contributes to the growing literature on household resource allocation across time by examining monthly cycles of food pantry visitation. This study uses 13 years of data from over 40,000 households who visited the Food Bank for Larimer County in Northern Colorado. Analysis reveals that pantry visitation fluctuates dramatically by day of the month and is highest at the end of the month among the general pantry client population. Further analysis examines these monthly cycles with consideration for the Colorado SNAP distribution schedule, with results that suggest pantry visitation increases when SNAP benefits run out.JEL CLASSIFICATIOND15 (Intertemporal Household Choice); Q18 (Food Policy)

The Impact of Working Mothers’ Bargaining Power on Their Children's Human Capital in Indonesia

Education is one of the strongest instruments owned by society to reduce poverty and vulnerability. This is because knowledge and skills are acquired through education. Thus, increasing productivity and creating access to employment opportunities. So that income will increase along with the increase in education. The most strategic target in developing quality human resources is children. There is an empirical study of the effect on household resource allocation where household decisions are influenced by the power that individuals have in the household. The distribution of power within the household can affect the level of spending on education for each child. This study aims to determine the impact of working mothers on their children's human capital in Indonesia and the differences in the influence of relative education and the relative income of working mother on children's human capital in Indonesia. The analysis technique used is the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and Chow-test to determine the difference in the effect of the relative education and relative income of working mothers on their children's human capital in Indonesia. Using IFLS5 data, we found out that the impact of working mothers has a significant effect on children's human capital in Indonesia and there is a significant difference where the income of working mothers has a greater influence on children's human capital in Indonesia.

Impact of a Severe Drought on Education: More Schooling but Less Learning

From October 2015 to April 2016, Southern Africa experienced one of the severest droughts in history. The drought's intensity varied significantly across locations. This provides a natural experiment to estimate the effect of large, negative agricultural shocks. We consider the impact of this shock on children’s educational outcomes using data from rural Zimbabwe. Those who experienced the drought may suffer from decreases in income and food access. This can affect household resource allocation and schooling decisions while exposing individuals to stress and uncertainty. We find the drought increases the probability that students advance in school, a seemingly positive impact, likely due to lower opportunity costs to education. The drought also led to a significant decline in performance on mathematics assessments and leadership attitudes, suggesting stress or other factors associated with a drought more than offset increases in attendance. This highlights the importance of using multiple indicators in education evaluations.

Gender and Intra-household Allocation of Remittances: Evidence from Estate Sector of Sri Lanka

Using a nationally representative data set, we examine whether the individuals’ bargaining power within households affects allocation of remittances in estate households in Sri Lanka. Two separate fractional logit models were estimated within the Engle’s Curve framework for male headed and female headed households to examine the intra household bargaining on decision making with respect to resource allocation. The results suggest that while female headed households allocate international remittances on food, male headed households allocate such on housing. The results further reveal that internal remittances contribute more for food, communication, entertainment, non-durables, transport and ad hoc purchases of male headed households. The influence of remitters on allocation for the food expenditure is relatively small but it is high for education, housing, health, consumer goods, durables and expenditure for ad hoc purchases, entertainment and transport. Overall, the study concludes that remitter has a greater say over the allocation of household resources over expenditures other than food and housing whereas household head play a significant role in allocating remittances on food and housing.

Influences of the built environment on travel: A household-based perspective

The linkage between travel and the built environment has received extensive research attention over the past decades. However, the existing studies normally evaluate the built environment effect on travel from an individual-based perspective, neglecting the influence of intra-household interactions. We argue that individuals’ travel behavior is derived from the allocation of household tasks and resources (e.g., household vehicles) and the travel behaviors of household members are interdependent. This suggests that the built environment may impact one member’s travel behavior indirectly through its influence on others members’ travel choices. Thus, examining the travel impact of the built environment needs to consider intra-household interactions. This paper proposes to analyze the land use-travel relationship from a household perspective. We simultaneously examine the effects of the built environments of residential and work locations on married couples’ travel behaviors, considering the interrelations between their travels and controlling for both partners’ travel attitudes. The empirical study in Beijing, China indicates that the built environment effect on travel is different between partners. Two work environment factors influence the partners’ driving behaviors in opposite directions. Moreover, the wife’s travel behavior mediates the association between the built environment and the husband’s travel behavior. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the land use impact on travel behavior from the household perspective.