Intrahousehold Inequalities in Child Rights and Well-Being. A Barrier to Progress?
利用联合国儿童基金会多指标聚类调查数据，提出L-Theil指数分解新方法，衡量家庭内儿童性别不平等程度及其对总体不平等的贡献，分析四个关键指标（发育迟缓、出生登记、入学率、劳动时间）中的性别偏差，发现偏差方向因国家和指标而异。
This paper uses UNICEF's Multiple Indicators Cluster Surveys cross-country data to shed light on unequal investments in the wellbeing of children (boys and girls) within the household. The paper proposes a new methodology to measure the extent of gender intrahousehold inequality and its contribution to overall levels of inequality using an L-Theil index decomposition. The individual and joint distribution of inequality in four key indicators of child wellbeing is analyzed: stunting, birth registration, school attendance, and time spent on work and chores (working hours) in the search for evidence of gender bias. Evidence from various separate county studies had shown that the direction of the gender bias is not universal. Such conclusion holds when using a consistent methodology and comparable cross-country datasets; this paper shows that disparities inside households do not follow the same bias toward one or the other gender in all countries and the direction of the bias is not the same across indicators of wellbeing. While progress in improving child wellbeing has occurred in many countries, inequalities remain. Intrahousehold inequalities might still be considered a priority in an agenda focused on closing these progress gaps.