UNU-WIDER Women’s Status and Child Labour in Nepal

This paper uses data from the Nepal Living Standards Survey 2 (2003/2004) to find evidence to whether children are less likely to work and more likely to attend school in a household where the mother has a say in the intra-family decision-making, than in one where the father holds all the power. This is done by using a bivariate probit model with two dependent variables: child labour and school attendance. The results support the hypothesis that in households where mothers have bargaining power, measured in particular with mother’s non-labour income (remittances), mother’s marriage age and her awareness of fertility controlling, children are less likely to be sent to work. They are also more likely to attend school.