The status of women and its influence on children’s well‐being: Do geography, religion and income matter? A comparative study

Abstract

Motivation: In most families around the world, women are children's primary caregivers. An improvement in women's status, besides being vital in its own right, has significant positive externalities since the welfare of children has consequences for long-term economic growth and development. Research question: Could enabling women to have greater opportunities to be productive members of society have a positive relationship with child welfare? Approach and methods: We examine the relationship between women's and children's well-being for a group of developing countries. We first study this in the context of the overall sample, and then in various country groupings, based on per capita income, geography and religion. A descriptive comparative study and a regression analysis are conducted. Findings and conclusions: We find that women's enhanced well-being is strongly related to improved child welfare. Although there is a wide variation in women's well-being within and across various income, geographic and religious groups, our results are robust across and within all groups. In the regression analysis, the only variable that is consistently significant in influencing outcomes for children is our measure of women's well-being. We cannot reach a clear conclusion regarding the influence of geography, religion and even gross domestic product per capita on child outcomes. Policy implications: It seems imperative for women's empowerment to be a part of every development agenda; a priority in itself, rather than something that should trickle down with overall development. An improvement in women's status, besides being vital in its own right, has significant positive externalities since children's welfare has consequences for long-term economic growth and development. In our study, it is the single most important factor with a definite impact on children's welfare.

Do precarious female employment and political autonomy affect the under-5 mortality rate? Evidence from 166 countries

“…To improve children’s health and nutrition, policies and initiatives should prioritize women’s economic and familial autonomy since this is likely to result in more positive healthcare changes across countries. According to Panday et al [ 14 ], boosting women’s status would positively affect their children’s welfare, resulting in better sustainable healthcare results. Bhowmik et al [ 15 ] uncovered critical evidence about women’s education and its impact on reducing socio-economic externalities.…”

Associations between women’s empowerment and child development, growth, and nurturing care practices in sub-Saharan Africa: A cross-sectional analysis of demographic and health survey data

“…In low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), multigenerational nurturing care interventions, which combine health, nutrition, and nurturing care inputs for children with inputs to empower, support, and enable caregivers to provide nurturing care, are recognized as essential for optimal child development and growth in early life [10]. However, where a large body of literature from LMICs has examined the associations between caregiver empowerment and child survival, health, nutrition, and growth [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], associations with other proximal components of the Children Surviving and Thriving Framework remain understudied. For instance, to our knowledge, no evidence exists on whether women's empowerment is associated with responsive care, early learning opportunities, and security and safety.…”