Untangling the Effect of Maternal Schooling on Child Morbidity and Malnutrition in Peru

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 7
  In Poster Session: Peers and Family as Context of Development

Abstract

Rising levels of schooling for females has potentially important societal consequences for the next generation of children in terms of their health. Using data from 2013 Peru Demographic Health Survey, a national representative dataset, we explored the relationship between maternal education and child health. To test the importance of maternal education, we used a Structural Equation Modeling analysis (Kline, 2005). Our results show that maternal education has a statistically significant effect on increasing child nutritional status in Peru; but, this effect is fully mediated by the pathways used in our analysis once they are introduced in the model. In terms of heterogeneous effects, we found statistically significant differences by ethnicity in the structural paths.

Author

• Juan Leon Jara Almonte