Mothers’ Social Networks and Socioeconomic Gradients of Isolation

Alison Andrew, Orazio Attanasio, Britta Augsburg, Jere Behrman, Monimalika Day, Pamela Jervis, Costas Meghir and Angus Phimister

No 28049, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Social connections are fundamental to human wellbeing. We examine the social networks of mothers of young children in rural Odisha, India. Gendered norms around marriage, mobility and work likely shape this group’s opportunities to form and maintain ties. We track 2,170 mothers’ networks over four years and find a high degree of isolation. Wealthier women and women from more-advantaged castes and tribes have smaller networks than their less-advantaged peers, primarily because they know fewer women within their own socioeconomic group. There exists strong, but symmetric, homophily by socioeconomic group. Socioeconomic differences are associated with toilet ownership and labor force participation.

JEL-codes: D13 D71 O1 O35 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-net and nep-soc
Note: CH DEV
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Working Paper: Mothers' Social Networks and Socioeconomic Gradients of Isolation (2020)
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