from several studies that show that low birth weight is associated with a number of adverse consequences for children including lower probability of survival and reduced cognitive abilities.

A large amount of evidence shows that mothers’ education has a positive effect on child survival, education and nutritional status; moreover, the effects of maternal education tend to be larger than those for paternal education.<sup>5</sup> Using data from rural China, Brown (2006) finds that mother’s education had a large effect on educational investments; further, this effect was larger than that of father’s education. A study from Central Java (Indonesia) finds that mother’s schooling affects shorter-term measures of children’s nutritional status (child weight), mainly through nutritional knowledge (Webb and Block, 2004). Using data from northeast Brazil, Thomas et al. (1991) find that children of mothers who have completed primary school were 2.5 percent taller than those of illiterate mothers. Since more educated women tend to live in households with higher incomes, it is theoretically possible that some or all the effects observed are attributable to higher household income; the studies reported here, however, control for woman’s and household income.

There are a number of pathways through which maternal education benefits children. Better educated mothers adopt safer health and hygiene practices, which improve their children’s health and survival (Glewwe 1999; Cebu Study Team 1991). Better educated mothers spend more time and resources on children’s health and education (Brown, 2006). Educated mothers are more likely to be exposed to information from a wider range of sources, and to be better able to process and act on the information received (Thomas et al., 1991; Caldwell, 1979). They may also have greater bargaining power within the household and so are better able to act on their preference for investing in children. Finally, educated women tend to have fewer children, which reduces dependency ratios and thus increases per capita consumption expenditure.

But there is also evidence that better-educated women marry better-educated husbands. So, it is possible that the observed effect of women’s education might also to some extent reflect unobserved preferences of their husbands for healthier or better-educated children (Schultz, 2002; Duflo, 2005). For example, a study from rural India found that in a setting where educated women do not participate in the labor market, better-educated men are more likely to marry better-educated women (Behrman et al, 1999). This same study also found that literate and better-educated mothers spent more time on children’s school work. Thus, it appears that the observed impact of a woman’s education may also include the unobserved preferences of her husband. No study, however, has successfully disentangled the two effects, and this remains an area for further research.

_Evidence from comparisons of female-headed and male-headed households_ The evidence presented thus far is based on an examination of couple households. Several studies have also compared outcomes for children living in female-headed versus male-headed households. This comparison, if factors such as earnings, asset ownership and education are

> 5 A number of papers summarize these findings. See for example Strauss and Thomas (1995), Schultz (1997), Schultz, (2002).

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