The Effects of Schooling Incentive Programs on Household Resource Allocation in Bangladesh

This paper examines the impact of programs that provide incentives for school attendance in rural Bangladesh—a food-for-education program for poor primary-school children and a secondary-school scholarship scheme for girls. Detailed time-use data were available from a 1991–92 village study conducted prior to the pro-grams' implementation as well as for two points in time in 1995 and 1996 when the programs were in place. The time children spent in school increased dramatically, especially for adolescent girls. Families were able to take advantage of the school programs because of the short school days required and because of the compatibility of household work with schooling. Data from 1992 and 1995 show that a sudden increase occurred in marriage postponement for adolescent girls, because the secondary school scholarship program required parents to sign a bond assuring that their daughters would not be married before age 18. The effects of the incentives varied by gender. Adolescent boys were less likely to remain in school and more likely to leave to do wage work. Parents may have decided to send adolescent girls to school and adolescent boys to work in response to the incentives. In Bangladesh, the transition to mass education for girls began recently and the current generation of girls is the first to attend school in significant numbers. As recently as 1996, the literacy rate for women aged 15 and older in Bangladesh was only 26 percent (UNDP 1998). Historically, enrollment rates have been higher for boys than for girls. Donors and nongovernmental organizations have recently emphasized the importance of women's education for development, and a number of programs have been implemented to increase girls' school attendance. The programs provide financial incentives that are targeted to the poor and to girls. As a result of the incentives, school enrollment has increased dramatically. To give one example, a village study by Amin and Sedgh (1998) found that enrollment rates for girls aged six to 19 increased from 48 The incentive schemes were motivated by the assumption that financial constraints are the major impediment to schooling: The direct costs of schooling such as fees and books are prohibitive for poor parents, and children's labor contribution is crucial for families' sustenance. The schooling incentive programs minimize the direct costs of schooling by eliminating fees and providing free books. The programs also compensate parents for the indirect costs of schooling, specifically, their children's forgone labor. Children contribute to …