A Cross-National Analysis of Infant/Child Mortality and Women’s Access to Land, Property, and Loans

• In Event: 286 - Section on Sociology of Development Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Paper Session: Section on Sociology of Development Roundtables (one-hour) Table 01. Gender and Health

Abstract

Despite gains in reducing infant and child mortality over the last several decades in every region of the world, infant mortality rates worldwide have actually diverged over time. Women’s empowerment is often heralded as a key factor in improving child health, since women typically bear the primary responsibility for caregiving and maintaining household food security and health. Plus, a variety of studies suggest that women are more likely than men to use resources on enhancing children’s nutrition and general family welfare. Although there is much disagreement about the best way to measure empowerment, women’s education and literacy are among the most well-studied correlates of child health and often used as a proxy for empowerment. Using newly available data, this study highlights the potential of women’s access to land, property, and loans for explaining cross-national variation in infant and child mortality. In doing so, it goes beyond the traditional use of maternal education and expands the definition of empowerment in a way that more adequately captures women’s control over resources. Results show that women’s land and property rights have significant impacts on improving infant and child mortality. In fact, the magnitude of these effects is comparable to that of improving sanitation and water, and larger than that of female literacy or GDP per capita. On the other hand, women’s access to bank loans does not garner the same child health advantage. This is likely because women often rely on husbands to use their loans and/or have little control over their use.

Author

• Rebekah Burroway, State University of New York-Stony Brook