Social Transfers and Women's Labour Supply in Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

The paper examines social transfers and their influence on the labour supply of women in Kyrgyzstan. Social transfers in cash and in kind in place in Kyrgyzstan absorbed 5.7% of GDP in 2012. They include subsidies to social insurance pensioners, transfers to population groups considered vulnerable or deserving, and transfers to families with children in extreme poverty. Social transfers are generally pro-old and maternalist in orientation, and therefore strongly gendered. Using data from the Life in Kyrgyzstan survey, the paper throws light on whether social transfers are associated with labour supply decisions of women at the extensive and intensive margins, and with birth spacing. The results indicate that social assistance transfers are associated with lower probabilities of participation and hours for women and marginally increase the relative risk giving birth.

Effect of Means-Tested Social Transfers on Labor Supply: Heads Versus Spouses—An Empirical Analysis of Work Disincentives in the Kyrgyz Republic

“…2. Barrientos and Kudebayeva (2015) apply binary models to the cross-section and panel component of the Life in Kyrgyzstan data. 3.…”

“…In Tajikistan, on the other hand, social assistance transfers had a positive effect on adult employment rates in female-headed households, indicating the importance of the safety net for the transition from inactivity or informality into employment (Arias and Sanchez-Paramo, 2014). Using data from the Life in Kyrgyzstan survey, Barrientos and Kudebayeva (2015) present ambiguous results of the monthly benefit for poor families (MBPF) on women depending on the data and models used.…”

Labour Markets in Low-Income Countries

“…For this reason, GLM|LIC supported a study on the impact of the social transfer system of Kyrgyzstan on women's labour supply (Barrientos and Kudebayeva 2018). Besides the pension, early retirement, and disability insurance systems and other standard social transfer provisions, which in general do not impact labour supply decisions of direct beneficiaries (but may influence the supply behaviour of-female-dependents or co-residents), the Kyrgyz set of additional social assistance mainly focuses on mothers.…”

School attendance: demographic differences and the effect of a primary school meal programme in Kyrgyzstan

“…It is to a large extent similar to the World Bank's Living Standards Measurement Surveys, with some modifications and additional modules. The LiK data are widely used by regional and international scholars to address migrationrelated issues (Chakraborty et al, 2015;Guelfi & Sattar, 2015), gender problems (Barrientos & Kudebayeva, 2015;Becker et al, 2017), and other economic and social issues (Bruck et al, 2014;Esenaliev & Kisunko, 2015) in the Central Asian region.…”