Maternal employment and early childhood education in India

• In Event: South Asia, Young Learners and Social Justice

Proposal

Research context and study contribution:

Worldwide, female labor force participation has risen continuously in the past few decades, although these rates are still below those of males (Klasen, 2019). In terms of mothers’ labor force participation, women still remain primarily responsible for child rearing (Boeckmann, Misra, & Budig, 2015). In many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), customs dictate that mothers serve as the primary caregivers for infants and children (Bianchi, 2000; Glick, 2002; Jayachandran, 2020). Such customs relate to dominant gender ideologies which suggest that children “suffer” when mothers work (Budig, Misra, & Boeckmann, 2012). Research shows that maternal employment is of policy interest because earning income relates to greater individual autonomy and influence in the family and in society as compared to unpaid household labor (Jayachandran, 2020). Additionally, income generated through maternal employment may increase household expenditures and increase investments and involvement in children’s education (Oddo & Ickes, 2018).

Research highlights complex implications of employment of mothers who provide dual responsibilities of childcare and income generation and offers inconclusive empirical evidence. To say something conclusive about the relationship between maternal work and child outcomes, scholars argue for greater research examining underlying mechanisms and local factors that may better explain this relationship (Vikram, Chen, & Desai, 2018; Waldfogel, Han, & Brooks-Gunn, 2002). India provides an interesting country context to review these questions. Despite increased incomes and female education levels, the country has seen sharp and continuous declines in the female labor force participation since 2005 (Mehrotra & Sinha, 2019). Policy attention towards improving maternal employment in the country will likely have an effect on females and the nation, as well as on children.

My main research question for this paper is, what is the association between maternal employment and early childhood outcomes in the Indian context? I use a rich longitudinal dataset to carry out this analysis. Study findings contribute towards the education and female labor force participation literature on LMICs. Also, a deeper understanding of these relationships will have substantial policy implications for researchers and policy-makers. Specifically, findings from my study can inform policy and program attention on women and children, particularly those that are marginalized from policy debates.

Conceptual framework:

In this section, I lay out the conceptual framework used in this study by highlighting several pathways of impact that explain the relationship between maternal employment and early childhood education. The lack of a consistent association found between maternal employment and children’s educational outcomes is due to several pathways competing with each other in explaining this relationship. To summarize pathways highlighted in the literature, this review borrows from Reynolds and colleagues (2017) comprehensive outline and builds on it.
The first pathway highlights that increased time spent in the labor force decreases the mother’s time spent interacting with her child. This implies that the mother may have less time available for supporting child development and educational activities (Reynolds et al., 2017; Vikram et al., 2018). Evidence from United States shows that when mothers spend increased time in the labor market, there are “negative” effects on child well-being (Brooks-Gunn, Han, & Waldfogel, 2002; Hill, Waldfogel, Brooks-Gunn, & Han, 2005; Ruhm, 2004). However, such effects may play out differently in developing countries, where other family members, such as grandparents and older sisters step in and substitute for mother’s time spent with the child. Moreover, mothers may compensate for hours worked outside by increasing their level of shared activities or improving the quality of time spent with their children (Vikram et al., 2018)
According to the second pathway, greater maternal employment leads to increased family income. The family can then provide children with educational goods and services such as, food, medicines, educational toys and books, even enrollment in early education institutions. This pathway implies that mother’s employment improves children’s outcomes (Afridi, Mukhopadhyay, & Sahoo, 2016; Reynolds et al., 2017; Ruhm, 2004). In fact, there are multiple sub-pathways that show beneficial impacts of maternal employment on children’s well-being. With more money in hand, women as compared to men, are more likely to make child-focused expenses (Afridi et al., 2016). Increased income also leads women to have greater bargaining power in making intrahousehold decisions (Heath & Jayachandran, 2016; Heath & Mobarak, 2015). Moreover, greater income and educational resources may improve home-based stimulation and center-based learning opportunities.
The third pathway highlights that mothers’ employment leads to changes in the mother’s well-being. These effects could be increased levels of maternal stress of balancing employment, childcare and household chores which can in turn influence her interactions with her children (Chatterji et al., 2013). In comparison, working outside could also increase the mother’s social networks and self-esteem, possibly improving mother-child interactions (Miyake, Tanaka, Sasaki, & Hirota, 2010).

Data methodology and analysis:

For my analysis, I use the Young Lives longitudinal dataset for India for the fifth largest state, Andhra Pradesh. I limit the scope of the study to the 2,011 children in the younger cohort who were 1 year old in 2002 because early childhood education outcomes are available only for this cohort. I use multivariate regression analysis to estimate the correlation between maternal employment and early childhood outcomes. The process of performing a regression allows me to explain the relationship between the independent variable (maternal employment) and the outcome variable (children’s early education outcomes). I measure maternal employment in two ways, i.) whether the mother works or not ii.) the type of work the mother does. In terms of children’s early education outcomes, I measure the enrolment in a preschool or formal school, and second, I measure children’s cognitive test scores. Preliminary results show that maternal employment shares a negative correlation with children’s early education outcomes. However, of note is the finding that this correlation becomes “less negative” once household wealth is controlled for. Moreover, the results depend on the type of work the mother is doing.

Author

• Vanika Grover, University of Virginia