Changing Effects of Work on Children’s Health 1988-98 in Ghana

Laurie DeRose, University of Maryland

During the decade from 1988-1998, female labor force participation has expanded under conditions of financial hardship in Ghana. The compatibility between women’s work and childbearing has been emphasized in literature on West Africa, but the ability to combine work and child care may change as selection into the paid labor force becomes more driven by economic hardship. I have pooled data from the 1988, 1993, and 1998 Demographic and Health Surveys to test whether the effect of maternal work on children’s growth have changed significantly over time. The analysis tests the effect of work on children’s growth for different income levels and for different household compositions. Although having another woman in the household mitigates some of the negative outcomes associated with women’s work, over the decade women in traditional occupations without household help became more likely to be involved in paid employment.