percent).<sup>18</sup> This could generate concerns that the sample is skewed towards liberal views if one is to believe that working women are more likely to be liberal. However, it is important to note that the main outcome variable for this study is, " _I work outside the house for pay_ " (at the time of the survey), and there, the share of women working is 29.39 percent, which is comparable to the average population statistic for the four provinces.

# SECTION 3: SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS

# Household composition and socio-economic outcomes of members

Out of the 850 households in the sample, 26 percent are in rural areas. Most households are concentrated in Nepal’s two ecological regions: hills (47 percent of households) and Terai (48 percent of households). Only 5 percent of households are from the mountains, given the remoteness of those areas. **<u>Table A.4, Annex A</u>** provides further description of the sampled households.

Most households are male-headed and have an average of 4.25 members. An average household has 1-2 children under the age of 18 years and around 2 working age adults (18-59 years). About a third of the sampled households co-reside with a mother and/or father-in-law.

On average, 68 percent of working-age adults are in the labor force ( **<u>Table A.5, Annex A</u>** ) **.** The share is higher among men - 87 percent vs. 58 percent for women. While most men are salaried workers (59 percent compared to 46 percent among women), women are more likely to work as self-employed (39 percent compared to 26 percent among men). The proportion currently engaged in unpaid employment is low, among both males and females.

The average monthly income of a household in the sample is reported at 38,738 NPR.<sup>19</sup> Most households (80 percent) report having earned income from employment ( **<u>Table A.6, Annex A</u>** <u>). Other reported sources of</u> income in the month preceding the survey include international remittances (26 percent), loans (13 percent), and saving or sale of assets (10 percent). A small share of the sample (6 percent) reports receiving government transfers from safety net programs.

The average age of a respondent is 36 years (with an average gap of 5 years between men and women). Most respondents are Hindus (86 percent), followed by Buddhist (9 percent), but there is more diverse representation of ethnicities – 33 percent identify as Adibasi and Janajati, 29 percent as Khas and Aryan, 27 percent as Dalit, and 10 percent as Madheshi.

# Migrant Households

Migrant households in the sample mostly comprise husbands who migrated internationally (93.3 percent) to countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and India. According to female spouses, work is the main reason for their husbands’ migration, with construction workers, security guards, and drivers being the most common occupations. Almost half of migrants have not completed basic education.

Migrant households in our sample differ on some important characteristics when compared to non- migrant households. Given the absence of the male spouse, migrant households are less likely to be headed by a male. They tend to be smaller and have more children and fewer household members of working age and that are in

> 18 Authors’ calculation using the Nepal Labor Force Survey 2017/2018.

> 19 This likely places the sample in the middle of the income distribution. According to the 2014/2015 Nepal Household Budget Survey, the average monthly household income for the third consumption quintile group is estimated at 24,516 NPR and for the fourth consumption quintile group (second richest group), it is at 32,042 NPR.

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