Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/296784 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
ADBI Working Paper No. 1390
Publisher: 
Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), Tokyo
Abstract: 
We study the relationship between maternal education and children's well-being in four Pacific countries. We exploit the richness of the Multiple Indicator Clustering Survey (MICS) dataset to investigate this relationship and its underlying mechanisms. We find that the number of years of schooling attained by mothers is positively correlated with the likelihood of children being overweight and the Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI) score, while it is negatively associated with child stunting. These patterns are mainly driven by the Kiribati and Samoa country samples, potentially due to larger sample sizes. Further investigation reveals that the number of years of schooling attained by mothers indirectly affects these outcomes through better caring practices and the higher likelihood of enrollment in early childhood education (ECE). Meanwhile, the lower likelihood of stunting appears to be a direct effect of greater maternal education. Our findings suggest that improving access to, but not the quality of, education for women may provide limited future returns for children's well-being, and they highlight the importance of disseminating specific maternal and parenting knowledge and improving ECE access.
Subjects: 
maternal education
stunting
obesity
early childhood development
Pacific countries
JEL: 
I25
J1
J13
F63
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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