Mothers Care More, but Fathers Decide: Health Classes and Spousal Communication Training to Improve Child Health in Uganda
Prior evidence on household decision-making in developing countries suggests that when mothers allocate household resources, they are more likely to spend money on improving children's health than fathers are. Two possible reasons are that: (a) women place higher value on their children's health, and (b) women know better than men what is needed to achieve better child outcomes. If (a) is paramount, then to improve child health, a promising policy approach is to shift household decision-making power toward women. However, if (b) is the explanation, then it might be sufficient and preferable to educate men about child health needs, without changing the balance of power in the household. We implement a randomized controlled trial across 412 villages in southwest Uganda in which we evaluate the effects of health and nutrition classes for fathers on health knowledge, household health-promoting behaviors, and child health; we compare the classes for fathers to similar classes for mothers and a control group. In addition, using a fourth study arm, we assess the effectiveness of spousal communication skills training for mothers in increasing their influence in household decisions and, thereby, improving child health.
BIO
Seema Jayachandran is a Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University. Her research focuses on environmental conservation, gender equality, health, and other microeconomic topics in developing countries.
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