Despite progress toward gender equality in education in Bangladesh, its female labor force participation (FLFP) rate has been stagnant relative to that of men, especially in marginal rural areas. To identify the overall benefit of schooling investment in women in rural Bangladesh, we examine the impact of female educational attainment on not only FLFP but also gains from marriage and household welfare. Applying a fuzzy regression discontinuity design where plausibly exogenous variation in school enrollment is created by the nationwide stipend program for women, we find moderate impacts of female education on FLFP, while female with higher education are more likely to marry more educated husbands who generate higher household income, particularly from non-farm activities. The results also show the significantly positive impacts of women’s education on sanitation control and children’s health. These findings indicate that female schooling enhances women’s role and well-being through marriage and household activities rather than their labor market activities.

尽管孟加拉国在教育领域实现性别平等方面取得了进展，但其女性劳动力参与率一直相对于男性处于停滞状态，特别是在边远农村地区。为了确定在孟加拉国农村地区对妇女的教育投资的总体收益，我们研究了女性受教育程度不仅对FLFP的影响，而且对婚姻和家庭福利的收益也有影响。应用模糊回归不连续性设计，其中全国性的助学金计划可能导致外来学生入学率的变化，我们发现女性教育对FLFP的影响适中，而受过高等教育的女性更有可能嫁给受过良好教育的丈夫，从而产生更高的家庭收入，特别是来自非农业活动的收入。结果还表明，妇女教育对卫生控制和儿童健康产生了显着积极影响。这些发现表明，通过婚姻和家庭活动而不是劳动力市场活动，女性入学可以增强妇女的作用和福祉。