DOES WOMENS WORK IMPROVE THEIR NUTRITION - EVIDENCE FROM THE URBAN PHILIPPINES

Women's market work in developing countries is thought to improve thei r well-being directly through increased income for health-related purc hases and indirectly through elevating women's status within the house hold. While a number of studies have looked at the effects of women's work and the cost of women's time on child nutrition and welfare, the direct effects of women's work on their own welfare have been largely untested. Using data on 1963 urban Filipino women from the Cebu Longit udinal Health and Nutrition Survey, we examined the relationship betwe en women's work and their dietary intakes of energy, protein, fat, cal cium, and iron from home and commercially prepared foods. Determinants equations for home and commercial intakes were estimated simultaneous ly to adjust for non-independence. Appropriate methods were used to de al with selectivity, endogeneity, and unobserved heterogeneity. Nearly half (48%) of the women worked for pay, and commercially prepared foo ds made up an important part of working women's diets. Not only did wo men's work improve the quality of their diets, but there were strong d istributional implications; lower-income women gained more than higher -income women. Employment sector also influenced women's dietary patte rns. Informal non-wage work was associated with increased intakes, whe reas formal sector work was associated with decreased intakes. Positiv e effects of work in the informal sector were greater for women from l ow-income households. Policy implications of the dietary benefits of i nformal non-wage work for low-income women are discussed. Copyright (C ) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd