Intrahousehold Allocation of Education Expenditure: The Case of Sri Lanka

A study was conducted to examine the existence of gender differences in expenditure toward education in rural Sri Lanka over the decade starting in the 1990s. The age categories adopted for children are important because each is a runup to an important national exam that qualifies a student to enter the next stage and even make the choice of entering an institution that is reputed for better performance than the one that he or she leaves. There is a bias favoring girls in rural Sri Lanka in the allocation of education expenditure within the household. Sri Lankan rural households seem to have been allocating more educational resources to girls in 1990-91 and 1995-96 for age groups 5-9, 14-16, and 17-19, and in 2000 for age groups 14-16 and 17-19. This is driven mainly by the expenditure on girls versus boys given that a household decides to spend on education.