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

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.