Does women empowerment impact child well-being? Evidence from India

Abstract

This study intends to examine how women's empowerment directly or indirectly impacts their children's well-being. Since prior research primarily focussed on the effects of maternal empowerment on specific domains of child well-being, such as healthcare or education, this study seeks to explore a more comprehensive understanding of child well-being, where child well-being is quantified using four domains, viz., physical well-being, psycho-social well-being, educational well-being and awareness of safety. For the study, a primary sample of 416 married women who have a child aged between 6 and 18 years was collected using a multistage purposive sampling method from the Barak Valley of Assam, India. Then, exploratory factor analysis is employed to construct two indices, one on women empowerment and the other on child well-being. The index of child well-being was then used as the regressand, and the women empowerment index, along with other children, mother and household characteristics, were used as the regressors in multiple linear regressions. Besides, the moderating role of women's empowerment on child well-being is also studied by creating interactions between the women's empowerment index and other mothers, children, and household characteristics. The study finds that women's empowerment has a strong and positive direct impact on the well-being of children aged 6 to 18. The study also reveals that women's empowerment indirectly impacts child well-being as it moderates between child well-being and other attributes, viz., the mother's working status, child's age, place of residence, and standard of living. A key implication of our study is that maternal empowerment is essential for enhancing child well-being during the early developmental years. We also find that maternal empowerment, when interacted with paid employment, profoundly uplifts their child's well-being.