Mothers Care More, but Fathers Decide: Educating Parents about Child Health in Uganda

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2017
Volume: 107
Issue: 5
Pages: 496-500

Authors (2)

Martina Björkman Nyqvist (not in RePEc) Seema Jayachandran (Princeton University)

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Research on intrahousehold decision-making generally finds that fathers have more bargaining power than mothers, but mothers put more weight on children's well-being. This suggests a tradeoff when targeting policies to improve child health: fathers have more power to change household behavior in ways that improve child health, but mothers might have a stronger desire to do so. This paper compares health classes in Uganda that enrolled either mothers or fathers. We find that educating mothers leads to greater adoption of health-promoting behaviors by the household. In addition, educating one parent leads to positive spillovers on the other spouse's health behaviors.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:107:y:2017:i:5:p:496-500
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25