The Nature of Maternal Work and Children’s Health and Educational Outcomes in Nepal: A Study Using the Nepal Living Standards Survey (NLSS) of 1995/96 and 2003/04

Ashish Bajracharya, Cornell University

This paper aims to examine the impacts of the nature of maternal work on the health and educational outcomes of children in Nepal. Using nationally representative longitudinal data from the Nepal Living Standards Survey (NLSS), this study seeks to examine whether transitions of mothers into more formalized, non-agriculture-based or wage-based forms of work have significant consequences for their children’s schooling and health. This question is particularly salient for Nepal, a predominantly agriculture-based economy with a rapidly transforming labor force, particularly that of females. This study is aimed at adding to a sparse literature in the developing world, which has largely ignored the potential opposing time and income effects of these transitions for women and their children. This study will be the first of its kind to examine these questions in the context of Nepal and among the few using longitudinal data, allowing for robust analysis of the data.