Time allocation/activity analysis/child care
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Net members:
A request for help with apologies for cross-postings.
My 15-year panel study in Zimbabwe reveals persistently lower levels
of child nutrition among households benefiting from land reform (de-
spite much higher mean incomes) than among those not benefiting.
Moreover, while income is positively correlated with agro-ecological
zones and hence cash-cropping, nutrition is inversely correlated with
income.
This finding flies in the face of both intuition & many findings
elsewhere. Increasingly, I believe it has something to do with the
quality/nature of child care. The land reform experience has stressed
households in many ways that might impact here. Doubling (or more)
the amount of land small families have - without an accompanying
change in technology - and then exhorting them (linked to threats) to
use it productively, creates pressures on families to use all labour
resources for fieldwork. Putting families in clustered villages means
the fields are now far from home; travel times are long, and meal &
"care" breaks impractical. Land reform has also weakened social net-
works so that co-caregivers may be hard to find. My suspicion is that
child care suffers.
During the three further years I intend to follow the same panel, I
would like to explore the child-care issue in some detail. Clearly,
an important part of the study will be an examination of the time al-
located to different activities by adults/older children in the fam-
ily.
Has anyone used or seen pro formas/studies which do a particularly
good job of capturing this type of information? I have come across
one (Collette Suda's study of changes in gender roles in Kenya) but
would very much like to hear from anyone who has direct experience in
this area.
Ideas on a related dimension would also be welcome. The market in ur-
ban areas of Zimbabwe has responded strongly to the demand from work-
ing mothers for child care; creches/day-care centres are everywhere.
Does anyone know of cases where there has been the same kind of mar-
ket response in rural Africa, i.e. where child care has been organ-
ised on a commercial rather than a family basis?
All suggestions welcome and I am happy to share with anyone else who
may be looking for the same kinds of information.
Bill
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Bill Kinsey
Vrije Universiteit OAE 4A29
De Boelelaan 1105
1081 HV Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 20 444 6144
Fax: +31 20 444 6004
After 22 Dec : bill_kinsey@compuserve.com
26 Oct-11 Nov: bkinsey@econ.vu.nl
12 Nov-4 Dec : bill_kinsey@compuserve.com
5-12 Dec : bruin@zimbix.uz.zw
12-16 Dec : bill_kinsey@compuserve.com
17-21 Dec : bkinsey@econ.vu.nl
After 22 Dec : bill_kinsey@compuserve.com
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