Measuring Women's Decision‐Making Power Beyond Self‐Reports: Evidence on the Nutritional Status of Children in Benin

ABSTRACT

In Benin, malnutrition is the main risk factor for mortality and morbidity among young children. Women's decision‐making power within the household appears to be a factor that promotes adequate nutrition for children, both in terms of quantity and quality. The objective of this study is to analyze the effect of women's decision‐making power within the household on the nutritional status of children under 5 in Benin. The data used come from the 2017‐2018 Benin Demographic and Health Survey, and a total of 4,093 children under the age of 5 were included in the analysis. We use the composite index of anthropometric failure as a measure of children's nutritional status because of its ability to estimate the full extent of child malnutrition in the population. Women's decision‐making power is measured using women's own responses and cross‐referenced responses from both spouses on household decision‐making. For the empirical modeling of the study, we use the recursive bivariate probit model to account for the endogeneity of women's decision‐making power. Overall, women's decision‐making power does not significantly reduce the probability of experiencing anthropometric failure among children, but it increases this probability when the husband grants decision‐making power to his wife. This type of power reflecting a disagreement between spouses regarding decision‐making within the household, undercuts, rather than improve women's ability to influence their children's nutritional status. The authority granted by the husband may involve a transfer of responsibility in a context of economic vulnerability. Thus, a woman may be recognized as a decision‐maker but still lack sufficient resources, namely the financial or material means, to ensure adequate food for her children or improve their nutritional status. Policies aimed at strengthening women's decision‐making power should be accompanied by mechanisms to improve access to and control over economic resources, so that this power may lead to better child nutritional status.