School, Work or Marriage? Gender Gaps in Child Development

Abstract
Using detailed child-level panel data and geo-coded data on agricultural shocks from Uganda this project examines how girls’ and boys’ schooling, work and marriage respond to changes in agricultural income. Shocks are computed from changes in local rainfall and crop prices. We show that both have effects of the same sign, positive shocks increase agricultural work and decrease domestic work for children, especially for girls. Girls also experience negative effects on schooling and a drop in marriage probability, while boys, if at all, are more likely to be enrolled in school.

Key factors
Gender, Exposure to shocks, Poverty/Household Wealth

Key outcomes
Hours in Child labor, Domestic work, Household Chores, Child Marriage, School attendance, School Drop out