Poster 45: Caste has always been a major factor underlying social stratification in India, and caste-based discrimination continues to be the basis for several controversial issues today. One such area where the effects of caste have been found to percolate has been through disparities in the cognitive develop.m.ent of children. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) was implemented in 2005 as a way to promote and provide livelihood security to rural adults, in particular. For my senior thesis in Economics, I look at the effect that this scheme has had in indirectly reducing the caste gaps that plague children's cognitive development. Using longitudinal survey data from the Young Lives studies in the state of Andhra Pradesh in Southern India, I focus particularly on the channels through which NREGS could potentially have had this effect on children's cognition, including but not restricted to mothers' employment and potentially enhanced household socioeconomic status.
