Yana van der Meulen Rodgers – författare

The contributors to this edited volume explore the effects of various development strategies and associated macroeconomic policies on women’s well-being and progress towards gender equality. Detailed analyses of major UN reports on gender reveal the different approaches to assessing absolute and relative progress for women and the need to take into account the specifics of policy regimes when making such assessments. The book argues that neoliberal policies, especially the liberalization of trade and investment, make it difficult to close gender wage and earnings gaps, and new gender sensitive policies need to be devised. These and other issues are all examined in more detail in several gendered development histories of countries from Latin America and Asia.

The contributors to this edited volume explore the effects of various development strategies and associated macroeconomic policies on women’s well-being and progress towards gender equality. Detailed analyses of major UN reports on gender reveal the different approaches to assessing absolute and relative progress for women and the need to take into account the specifics of policy regimes when making such assessments. The book argues that neoliberal policies, especially the liberalization of trade and investment, make it difficult to close gender wage and earnings gaps, and new gender sensitive policies need to be devised. These and other issues are all examined in more detail in several gendered development histories of countries from Latin America and Asia.

Women''s labor-market activity affects child health largely because their paid work raises household income, which strengthens families'' abilities to finance healthcare needs and nutritious food; however, time away from children could counteract some of the benefits of higher socioeconomic status that spring from maternal employment. New evidence based on data from nine South and Southeast Asian countries illuminates the potential tradeoff between the benefits and challenges families contend with in the face of women''s labor-market activity. This book provides new, original evidence on links between maternal employment and children''s health using data associated with three indicators of children''s nutritional status: birth size, stunting, and wasting. Results support the implementation and enforcement of policy interventions that bolster women''s advancement in the labor market and reduce undernutrition among children.

Scholars, students, policy makers and all those with an interest in nutritional science, gender, economics of the family, or development economies will find the methodology and original results expounded here both useful and informative.

Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Women''s Employment Around the Globe 3. Conceptual Framework 4. Existing Evidence on Maternal Employment and Child Health 5. Data and Methodology 6. New Results for South and Southeast Asia 7. Conclusion and Policy Implications