This paper examines the effects of the number of days worked by households under India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) on expenditure patterns, food security, and individual time use. I use plausible exogenous variation in administrative bottlenecks regarding the timing of work provision as an instrument for the number of days worked. The paper finds that a greater number of days worked increases household food expenditure and especially spending on dairy, proteins, and vegetables that are likely to raise children’s nutritional status. Household food security is also found to improve. These effects seem to be because of the greater participation of women relative to men in the program. Greater adult participation in NREGA raises the time spent in school for younger girls. Importantly, women’s engagement in domestic chores as their major activity is found to fall. However, older boys are found to substitute for adults in agricultural work. Although girls are unlikely to substitute for adults in performing domestic tasks due to greater adult participation in NREGA, the increased engagement of boys in agricultural work is a plausible unintended consequence of the program.

中文翻译：

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印度就业保障和妇女参与的消费和时间使用效应

本文研究了印度《全国农村就业保障法》(NREGA) 规定的家庭工作天数对支出模式、粮食安全和个人时间使用的影响。我使用有关工作提供时间的行政瓶颈的似是而非的外生变化作为工作天数的工具。该论文发现，工作天数越多，家庭食品支出就越多，尤其是乳制品、蛋白质和蔬菜的支出，这些可能会提高儿童的营养状况。家庭粮食安全也得到改善。这些影响似乎是因为女性相对于男性更多地参与了该计划。成人更多地参与 NREGA 增加了年轻女孩在学校的时间。重要的，发现作为主要活动的妇女从事家务劳动的情况有所下降。然而，发现年龄较大的男孩代替成年人从事农业工作。尽管由于成人更多地参与 NREGA，女孩不太可能代替成人完成家务，但男孩更多地参与农业工作是该计划的一个看似合理的意外结果。