THE ROLE OF MATERNAL SCHOOLING AND ITS INTERACTION WITH PUBLIC-HEALTH PROGRAMS IN CHILD HEALTH PRODUCTION

Three questions are addressed in this paper: (1) Does mother's schooling affect child health? (2) If so, does its impact vary across child age groups? (3) How and why does maternal schooling affect child health? Maternal education positively affects child health as measured by height-for-age. There is a difference in its impact across child age groups, with preschoolers showing the greatest sensitivity. The pattern of interactions between maternal education and public health programs suggests that maternal education affects child health through an efficiency effect (by affecting the productivity of health inputs) and an allocative effect (by lowering the cost of information). © 1990.