Cash Transfer, Women’s Empowerment and School Attendance in Multan Division, Pakistan

Abstract

Many school-age children in Pakistan are still out of school, and the gaps are largest in poor rural districts such as those in southern Punjab. This paper examines whether the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), which pays an unconditional cash amount to mothers, and mothers’ bargaining power at home are linked to children’s school attendance. The data come from 768 mothers in Multan Division, half of them BISP recipients and half neighbours of similar income who do not receive BISP. These mothers reported on 1,996 school-age children. We used principal component analysis of 31 survey questions to build economic, social, familial, political and overall scores of the mother’s position at home. These scores may reflect hidden family preferences for education, so we used two instruments, house ownership and land ownership in the mother’s name, in a two-step probit model, with one score at a time. Children in BISP households were 7.2 percentage points more likely to attend school. Attendance was 5.9 points higher with greater economic empowerment of the mother, 4.8 points higher with social empowerment and 3.9 points higher when she had more say in family decisions. Political empowerment mattered least. BISP was linked to a larger rise in attendance where mothers were more empowered, except for political empowerment. Children of mothers with higher education were 11.0 points more likely to attend, the largest effect in the model. Income, working parents and living in a town were linked to higher attendance, and larger households and later birth order to lower attendance. Boys and girls were equally likely to attend school in every district. The results suggest combining BISP with income opportunities for mothers, adult and girls’ education, and better access to schools in Lodhran.