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. 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 GDP. 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). The estimated productivity loss associated with partner violence
amounted to 1.2 percent of Tanzania’s GDP, an estimate likely to be far higher if earnings
from agricultural self-employment had been included.