Estimating the Association Between Women's Earnings and Partner Violence : Evidence from the 2008-2009 Tanzania National Panel Survey

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between women's labor market outcomes and partner violence among Tanzanian women, and to estimate the difference in women's weekly earnings between women who have been abused and women who have not. In addition, this study estimates the lost earnings to women because of partner violence as a share of Tanzania's gross domestic product. Partner violence is the most common form of violence against women and the adverse consequences for women s health have been well documented. Few studies have estimated the economic costs of partner violence in low- and middle-income countries and current evidence suggests that the cost is large. Using data from the nationally representative 2008-2009 Tanzania National Panel Survey, the study uses propensity score matching methods to estimate the difference in women's earnings from formal waged work and non-agricultural self-employment. Data on women's earnings from agricultural self-employment, the largest employment sector for women in Tanzania, were not collected in the survey. Findings from this study reveal that partner violence is pervasive in Tanzania and that abused women earn less than women who have never been abused, with the greatest loss of earnings experienced by women in formal waged work (compared to women in non-agricultural self-employment) and by women in urban areas (compared to women in rural areas).