Women's Access to Labor Market Opportunities, Control of Household Resources, and Domestic Violence

While there are many positive societal implications of increased female labor force opportunities, some theoretical models and empirical evidence suggest that working can increase a woman's risk of suffering domestic violence. Using a dataset collected in peri-urban Dhaka, this analysis documents a positive correlation between work and domestic violence. This correlation is only present among women with less education or who were younger at first marriage. These results are consistent with a theoretical model in which a woman with low bargaining power can face increased risk of domestic violence upon entering the labor force as a husband seeks to counteract her increased bargaining power. By contrast, husbands of women who have higher baseline bargaining power cannot resort to domestic violence since their wives have the ability to leave violent marriages. These findings are inconsistent with the models of assortative matching in the marriage market, expressive violence, work in response to economic shocks, or underreporting of domestic violence. The results on age at marriage are also inconsistent with the implications of a reverse causality model in which women enter the labor force to escape violent situations at home, although the results on education are consistent with that story.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Heath, Rachel
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012-07
Subjects:	ADOLESCENT, ADOLESCENT GIRLS, AGE AT MARRIAGE, AGE OF MENARCHE, ALCOHOL, ALCOHOL ABUSE, BEATING, BIRTH CONTROL, BREASTFEEDING, BULLETIN, CARE PROVIDERS, CHILD HEALTH, CHILDBEARING, CONTROL OVER RESOURCES, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, EARLY MARRIAGE, EARLY MARRIAGE AMONG WOMEN, ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT, ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES, ECONOMIC STATUS, EDUCATED WOMEN, EXTENDED FAMILIES, EXTENDED FAMILY, FAMILIES, FAMILY PLANNING, FAMILY PLANNING PERSPECTIVES, FEMALE, FEMALE EMPLOYMENT, FEMALE LABOR, FEMALE LABOR FORCE, FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION, FEMALE WORK, FEMALE WORKERS, FEMALES, FEWER CHILDREN, FIRST MARRIAGE, GENDER, GENDER BALANCE, GENDER DIFFERENCES, GENDER DIVISION OF LABOR, GENDER EQUALITY, GENDER EQUITY, GENDER ROLES, HEALTH CARE, HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS, HEALTH FACILITIES, HEALTH INTERVENTIONS, HOUSEHOLD ASSETS, HOUSEHOLD INCOME, HOUSES, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUSBAND, HUSBANDS, INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS, INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN, INTERNATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING, INTERNATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING PERSPECTIVES, INTIMATE PARTNER, INVESTMENT IN CHILDREN, INVESTMENTS IN EDUCATION, JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE, LABOR MARKET, LEVELS OF EDUCATION, LIVES OF WOMEN, LOW AGE AT MARRIAGE, MARITAL VIOLENCE, MARRIAGE AGE, MARRIAGES, MARRIED WOMEN, MEDICINE, MIGRANT, MIGRANT HOUSEHOLDS, MIGRANTS, MIGRATION, MOBILIZATION OF WOMEN, MOTHERS, NUMBER OF CHILDREN, NUTRITION, PATRIARCHY, PHYSICAL ABUSE, PHYSICAL VIOLENCE, POLICY DISCUSSIONS, POLICY IMPLICATIONS, POLICY MAKERS, POLICY RESEARCH, POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER, POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT, POPULATION COUNCIL, POPULATION STUDIES, POWER OF WOMEN, PRIMARY EDUCATION, PRODUCTIVITY, PROGRESS, PROMOTING GENDER EQUALITY, PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE, PUBLIC SERVICES, RESOURCE ALLOCATION, RESPECT, SEX, SKILLED WOMEN, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL SCIENCE, SOCIETAL IMPLICATIONS, SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS, SPOUSAL ABUSE, SPOUSAL VIOLENCE, SPOUSES, STD, TRADITIONAL GENDER ROLES, TV, UNEDUCATED WOMEN, UNITED NATIONS, UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME, URBAN POPULATION, VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, VIOLENCE AT HOME, VIOLENCE VICTIMS, WAGE GAP, WED, WIFE, WILL, WIVES, WOMAN, WOMEN WORKERS, WOMEN'S STATUS, WOMENS STATUS, WORK EXPERIENCE, WORK SCHEDULES, WORKING WOMEN, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, YOUNG AGE, YOUNG MARRIED GIRLS,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/07/16543273/womens-access-labor-market-opportunities-control-household-resources-domestic-violence https://hdl.handle.net/10986/11987
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