Women Empowerment and Children’s Health in the Long Run: Evidence from Suffrage Laws

Hamid Noghanibehambari, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Previous research shows that women empowerment induces an incentive for higher investment in children’s human capital. This paper examines the effect of women empowerment as a result of the passage of suffrage laws across US states during the late 19th and early 20th century on children’s old-age longevity. Using the universe of death records between the years 1979-2019 and implementing a reduced-form difference-in-difference method, I find that exposure to women suffrage laws during childhood and school-age years increases longevity by 0.5 years. The results suggest larger effects for blacks and people residing in southern states. Additional analyses point to improvements in education and income as the potential channels of impact.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 122. Multidimensional perspectives on Women's Movements