Children's extracurricular learning participation under household energy transition: Evidence from China

This paper provides new evidence on how reducing household biomass consumption affects children's educational development opportunities. Prior studies on this subject primarily focus on the benefits of improving children's school enrollment. Using microdata in rural China, this paper shows that reduced biomass dependence significantly enhances schoolchildren's participation in extracurricular intellectual activities (EIAs) including reading, writing and drawing, a critical yet underexplored dimension influencing children's holistic learning outcomes and cognitive development. It is found that schoolchildren from non-biomass households are 5.5 percentage points more likely to participate in EIAs than those from biomass-dependent peers. Mechanism analysis indicates that transition away from biomass free up time for schoolchildren's learning and improve their health condition, thereby increasing participation in EIAs. This positive effect on EIAs notably contributes to narrowing the gender gap, with schoolgirls benefiting significantly compared with boys. Additionally, schoolchildren's participation in cooking exacerbates the negative effect of household biomass consumption on educational opportunities, particularly for those in primary school. Our estimates underscore that China's rapid transition away from biomass consumption has provided rural schoolchildren with significant opportunities for educational development and gender equity.