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Women's employment impacts household food expenditure patterns over time in rural Bangladesh
Author(s) -
Mehra Sucheta,
Klemm Rolf D. W.,
Labrique Alain Bernard,
Rashid Mahbubur,
Shamim Abu Ahmed,
Christian Parul,
West Keith Parker
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.269.8
Subject(s) - per capita , food group , household income , economics , socioeconomics , agricultural economics , geography , environmental health , medicine , population , archaeology
In resource‐poor settings, income earning women are hypothesized to have greater control of household expenditures and may prioritize the purchase of more or better quality food. This 4 year longitudinal analysis evaluated the impact of women's formal, part‐time employment with a research project in rural Bangladesh on monthly per capita food expenditure. Women were categorized as unemployed (n=182), first time employed with the project (n=279), first time employed elsewhere (n=184) and transitioning in employment to the project (n=291). Change in women's contribution to household income differed (0%, 37%, 4% and 5% respectively; p<0.001). Monthly per capita total food expenditures increased across time (Tk 382.6 to Tk 1921.3, p<0.001) and differed by group (p<0.05), while the food share of income, similar across groups at baseline (p=0.15), decreased considerably and unequally across groups (p<0.001) 4 years later. Though absolute per capita expenditure on food categories was not different, the share of food expenditure on rice, meat, fish, eggs, dairy, vegetables, fruits and snacks varied by group at baseline, shifted over time and differed in the rate of change by group, which will be presented. Rice expenditure shares increased uniformly but meat, eggs, dairy and fruit were prioritized differently by different categories, indicating that women's income influences household food choices. Funded by USAID and the Gates Foundation.