The gender gap in children’s educational time investments in informal settlements

Abstract

We document gender differences in children’s time investments in education, unpaid labour, and leisure in an understudied population of children living in urban informal settlements in Indonesia and Fiji. Using within-settlement and within-sibling comparisons, we find that boys spend significantly less time than girls on schooling and homework and more time on leisure activities. We find no evidence that parents spend less time engaged in educational activities with sons compared with daughters. We find that the gender gaps in time use are more pronounced among children whose parents have lower schooling and more financial constraints.