Is Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Associated with Better Nutrition and Education Outcomes for Children? Evidence from Bangladesh

Esha Sraboni, Brown University
Akhter Ahmed, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

This paper provides empirical evidence on the relationship between empowerment gaps between men and women in the same household and children’s nutrition and education outcomes using nationally-representative data from the 2012 Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS). We measure relative empowerment using direct measures of empowerment collected from men and women in the same households using the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index. Our findings suggest that empowerment gaps are only weakly linked to children’s nutrition, although significant differences exist between boys and girls depending on the empowerment measures used. Younger girls (aged 6-10) and older boys and girls (aged 11-17) are more likely to receive more education when mothers are more educated. Overall, the household head’s education is significantly associated with better nutrition and education outcomes for children, which may be reflecting a wealth effect.