Welfare Implications of Female Headship in Jamaican Households

摘要

The paper compares the economic status of male- and female-headed Jamaican households. It then analyzes differences in the use of resources (time and money) between the two groups. Finally, it focuses on the relative well-being of the children in these households. The findings show that poverty and female headship are weakly linked. The study finds some evidence of small differences in resource use between the two types of households. Labor force participation data indicate that female heads are more likely to work in the market place than women with similar characteristics who are the spouses of male heads of households. The analyses of household expenditures shows that female-headed households spend no more on food than do male-headed households. Perhaps the most important question answered in the paper is to what extent female headship influences child welfare. The results show that children in female-headed households have, by and large, equal access to social services and equally good welfare outcomes as children in male-headed households.