Education is the Antidote: Individual- and Community-Level Effects of Maternal Education on Child Immunizations in Nigeria

• In Event: 2367 - Frontiers in Feminist Development

Abstract

Nigeria is an interesting case study because it outperforms other lower middle-income countries in economic development, yet ranks among the lowest in the world in immunization coverage rates. Women’s education is widely recognized as a key factor in improving child health outcomes in developing countries. However, previous research rarely considers both the individual and contextual effects of education. Combining multi-level modeling with spatial data techniques, this study investigates variation in child immunizations in Nigeria based on a set of individual and community characteristics. Drawing on data from the Demographic and Health Surveys and the Global Administrative Areas database, the analysis pools data on 20,215 children across 458 communities. Results indicate that women’s education has a robust association with vaccinations at the individual level and at the community level, even net of a variety of other household and community characteristics. This suggests that education has a protective effect on child health not only because more individual women are going to school, but also because everyone benefits from the education and empowerment of women in the community. As broad societal transformations take place, education may shape women’s capacity to take advantage of better access to power and resources, resulting in a dispersion effect of expanded women’s education on health.

Authors

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

• Andrew Hargrove, State University of New York-Stony Brook