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This is a Cohort Study study (also classified as: Quantitative Study).

September 19, 2025Open Access

Education Expansion as a Policy Tool for Reductions in Infant and Maternal Mortality

Key Points

Moving an additional 1% of women into primary education reduces maternal mortality by 4.6%.
Infant mortality decreases by 1.9% for every 1% rise in women's participation in primary education.
The influence of primary education on mortality is greater than increases in GDP per capita.
The effects are particularly significant in South and Central Asia compared to other regions.

Abstract

We investigate the association of women’s education with maternal and child mortality. Using a large panel of data consisting of 185 economies over 30 years, we find that moving an additional 1 percentage point of women into primary education reduces the rate of maternal death by 4.6% and the rate of infant mortality by 1.9%. These relationships are nonlinear, with secondary education on average having a smaller impact than primary education, and tertiary education having no such impact. The impact of primary education is larger in South Asia and Central Asia than elsewhere, but it is present in all regions other than Europe and North America. Our estimates reveal that a 1 standard deviation increase in the share of women with a primary education has a larger impact on mortality than a 1 standard deviation increase in gross domestic product per capita or public health provision.

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