The Longitudinal Dynamics of Household Composition and Wealth in Rural Malawi
Date
2019
Authors
Myroniuk, Tyler W.
Payne, Collin
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Publisher
University of Calgary
Abstract
Household living arrangements play a crucial role in survival efforts
throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Household living arrangements foster the
development of informal insurance that can mitigate economic or filial shocks,
and potentially improve the overall well-being of kin. However, scholarship in subSaharan African settings has not been able to, or has not attempted, to track how
households have changed and the coinciding changes in livelihood outcomes. We
ask whether changes in overall household size and the addition of dependents
and working-age individuals are associated with changes in household wealth, a
signal of well-being. We use the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health
(MLSFH) to exploit detailed data on changing Malawian household composition
via a household roster matching technique and fixed effects regressions. The
addition of members to a household and the presence of more boys and workingage men—to a certain point—are associated with having more durable goods and
greater chances of acquiring a metal roof—key indicators of wealth in rural Malawi.
The addition of girls and women of any age are seemingly not linked to changes in
household wealth.
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Source
Journal of Comparative Family Studies
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Journal article
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Restricted until
2037-12-31
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