Bangladesh's food for education program: The effects on two groups of targeted households

Abstract

Using nationally representative data from Bangladesh, the paper investigates the effects of the food for education program on primary enrollment of all children, and in particular children from two groups of targeted households. For all children, exposure to the program shows positive effects on the enrollment of boys. However, only small effects are found in the case of girls. For rural landless households, the results suggest that the program mainly contributed to the increase in the enrollment of boys. On the other hand, for rural female-headed households, the effects of the program are seen mainly in the case of girls.