Maternal employment and childhood nutrition in Ecuador

Abstract

This study explores the association of maternal employment on childhood nutrition in Ecuador by understanding the trade-off between the maternal time devoted to work and childcaring. I use exogenous regional variation of the labor market as an instrument. Using the National Health and Nutrition Survey 2018, I estimate the causal effect of maternal labor supply on children’s nutrition outcomes based on anthropometrics measurements. Maternal employment increases the probability of having stunted children, while I have not found any effect of maternal employment on children suffering from wasting, underweight and overweight. The results are robust and account for possible endogeneity sources.