Current research on the important issue of the determinants of child welfare at the family level has focused on parental attainment of education as an important determinant of the health and well being of the child. The unique and defining role of the mother as chief caretaker, and the critical need to arm her with sufficient information to counterbalance the entrenched poor living conditions of most sub-Saharan African regions sets the background for this research The research focuses on the influence of the mother's attainment of a greater threshold of education achievement on child welfare among Ghanaian and Kenyan children under the age of 36 months. The maternal attainment of at least some secondary education exceeds various socioeconomic indicators, including source of drinking water, as the major determinant of the health and well being of the child. These findings are persistent in both country analyses The finding is robust using multivariate analyses across selected socioeconomic measures, and remains intact when the outcome variable is controlled for by urban-rural residency. Those measurements include: source of drinking water, prevalence of disease, educational attainment, child's age, access to a radio, mother's age, and mother's awareness of oral rehydration therapy. An additional sub-analysis investigated factors associated with whether the child was taken to a medical facility for treatment Indicators employed to proxy the condition of poverty were found to be statistically significant correlates of child well being. However, these variables do not duplicate the persistent and strong results obtained from the education indicator. The amassment of maternal knowledge precedes and mitigates the impact of the basic accouterments of water connections and health practice factors on the health and well being of the child Thus socioeconomic and infrastructure factors are not a substitute for the commanding influence of greater maternal education on the well being of the child. Moreover, information received by mothers resulting from the completion of primary schooling is insufficient to reverse the trend of poor health outcomes among children under the age of three Policy must prioritize the allocation of resources toward maternal education at a level which exceeds primary schooling or basic education in order to effect sustainable change / acase@tulane.edu
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_25652 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Contributors | Sullivan, Julie Helen (Author), Bertrand, William E (Thesis advisor) |
| Publisher | Tulane University |
| Source Sets | Tulane University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Access requires a license to the Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest) database., Copyright is in accordance with U.S. Copyright law |
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