Does Women’s Empowerment Reduce Prevalence of Stunted and Underweight Children in Rural India?

This study investigates whether mother’s empowerment as measured by her bargaining power relative to father’s affects children’s nutritional status by using three rounds of NFHS data in India. First, the relative educational attainment of mothers significantly contributes to z scores pertaining to short-term measures of nutritional status of children. Besides, the quartile regression relates how strong associations between women’s bargaining power and better nutritional status of children in the long-term measurement of nutrition at the low end of its conditional distribution. Finally the relation between access to health schemes and better nutritional measures is established.