The impact of womenʹs power on child quality in rural China

This paper examines the effect of raising motherʹs controlling power over household resources on child development. One of the major contributions of this paper is that it uses a measure of motherʹs power that is unrelated with motherʹs ability. Motherʹs power is measured by her household headship status, which is defined as a person who plays a decisive role in household affaires. Using household survey data from rural China, this paper shows that children whose mother plays a decisive role in household affairs are generally taller than those whose father plays a decisive role. The evidence suggests that children indeed benefit from womenʹs empowerment.