A recent article by Dr. Keonhi Son and Dr. Aysegul Kayaoglu, researchers from project A06 "Work-family Policies: Socioeconomic Outcomes and Policy Learning", has been published in "World Development". In this review article, they challenge the conventional view in labor economics that work-family challenges arise only in high-income countries, where many women work in the formal sector. The article presents the first research findings from Phase III of the project, as originally conceptualized in the proposal and further developed within the framework.
Hidden work-family challenges in the low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review of causes, consequences, and policy responses [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2026.107349]
Abstract:
Work–family challenges are a major barrier to gender equality and contribute to the intergenerational reproduction of inequalities by undermining child development from the earliest stages of life. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), however, these tensions remain poorly captured by prevailing metrics, data, and frameworks. Drawing on a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative studies published between 2000 and 2024, this article shows that motherhood penalties in LMICs are expressed through poverty-driven sectoral shifts into lower-quality jobs, heightened time poverty and what we term a work-family trade-off, where maternal employment in precarious conditions is associated with worse child health and developmental outcomes. We synthesize evidence on how micro-, meso- and macro-level factors jointly shape these patterns and highlight a “flexibility trap”: informal and agricultural jobs that appear compatible with caregiving in theory often deepen work-family tensions in practice. We then review empirical evidence on three family policy domains (i.e., paid leave, cash transfers, and early childhood education and care (ECEC)) showing that ECEC most consistently improves both women’s employment quality and child outcomes, while cash transfers primarily ease poverty-driven labor responses and paid leave yield mixed effects in high-informality settings. Building on these findings, we develop a conceptual framework that locates “poverty-driven work-family challenges” at the center of LMIC experiences. The review concludes with design principles for family policies and a research agenda that better captures hidden work-family tensions in LMICs.
World Development is a multi-disciplinary monthly journal of development studies. It seeks to explore ways of improving standards of living, and the human condition generally, by examining potential solutions to problems such as: poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, disease, lack of shelter, environmental degradation, inadequate scientific and technological resources, trade and payments imbalances, international debt, gender and ethnic discrimination, militarism and civil conflict, and lack of popular participation in economic and political life.
Contact:
Dr. Aysegul Kayaoglu
MZES
A5, 6
68159 Mannheim
E-Mail: ayseguel.kayaoglu@uni-mannheim.de
Dr. Keonhi Son
MZES
A5, 6 (Building A)
68159 Mannheim
Phone: +49 621 181-2803
E-Mail: son@uni-mannheim.de
