Is maternal employment detrimental to children's nutritional status? Evidence from Bangladesh

This paper explores the effect of maternal employment on the nutritional status of children below age 5 years in Bangladesh using data from the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. Since mothers' choice to participate in the labor market is endogenous, the estimation of the causal effect of maternal employment on child health is statistically challenging. To correct for the endogeneity of maternal employment, we employ instrumental variable (IV) estimation. While our ordinary least squares results show that mothers' employment has no significant effect on children's nutritional outcome, the IV estimates suggest that maternal employment significantly decreases children's height-for-age Z-score. This result is contrary to conventional wisdom advocating for maternal employment to positively affect child health and well-being. We, therefore, argue for effective policy interventions-such as childcare centers at workplaces, flexibility in working hours including part-time options for mothers, restraining child marriages, and strengthening maternal and child health-care services through community health centers-to foster children's health as well as maternal employment in the country.

Automated summary

This study investigates the impact of maternal employment on the nutritional status of children under 5 in Bangladesh, using data from the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. The results show that maternal employment significantly decreases children's height-for-age Z-score, contradicting traditional beliefs. Effective policy interventions are recommended to improve child health and maternal employment.