Abstract:
Women’s education lowers child mortality rate in developing countries. My research
question is ‘What are the intervening variables involved in the process that lead to a
relationship between maternal education and infant/under five child mortality in India?’
The dependent variable is infant/under five child mortality and the independent variables
are maternal education, women's empowerment indicators, women's autonomy indicators,
knowledge acquisition measure and decision-making regarding reproductive behavior
and child care measure
I argue that the causal link between maternal education to child survival is due to
impact of education on women’s empowerment and autonomy (both in absolute and
relative terms). Women's social status (empowerment and autonomy) improves with
education, which has an impact on their ability to acquire knowledge and make decisions
regarding their reproductive behavior and child care.
