A Mother's Voice: Impacts of Spousal Communication Training on Child Health Investments / Martina Bjorkman-Nyqvist, Seema Jayachandran, Celine P. Zipfel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Björkman-Nyqvist, Martina.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Jayachandran, Seema.

Zipfel, Celine P.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w30962.

NBER working paper series no. w30962

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2023.

Summary:

Building on prior evidence that mothers often have a stronger preference for spending on children than fathers do, we use a randomized experiment to evaluate the impacts of a communication training program for mothers on child health in Uganda. The hypothesis is that the training will enable women to better convey their knowledge and preferences to their husbands and, thereby, boost investments in children's health. We find that the program increases spousal discussion about the family's health, nutrition, and finances. However, this does not increase overall adoption of health-promoting behaviors or improve child anthropometrics. One exception is that the communication training increases women's and children's intake of protein-rich foods as well as household spending on these foods.

Notes:

Print version record

February 2023.