Indoor Tools for Outdoor Jobs: An empirical study on the relationship between time-saving household appliances and female labour force participation in India

Sammanfattning: Higher female labour force participation leads to positive development outcomes at both the micro and macro level. The low and declining female labour force participation in India is alarming and rather puzzling, since its economy is growing rapidly. One of the labour market barriers facing women is time constraint brought about by time-consuming household tasks. This thesis applies national micro-level panel survey data to assess the effect of time-saving household appliances on the female labour force participation of married women in India. The study specifically looks at the ownership of a refrigerator, washing machine, sewing machine, mixer/grinder, and pressure cooker, as these appliances can facilitate a significant reduction in time spent on household work. To identify causal effects and to control for endogeneity, an instrumental variable technique and individual and year fixed effects are used. A married woman's appliance ownership is instrumented by the average ownership rate among unmarried women living in the same district, serving as a proxy for factors that affect appliance ownership. When controlling for the possible biases, the results suggest a positive effect of household appliances on the female labour force participation.