Long‐run intergenerational health benefits of women empowerment: Evidence from suffrage movements in the US

Abstract

AbstractAn ongoing body of research documents that women empowerment is associated with improved outcomes for children. However, little is known about the long‐run effects on health outcomes. This paper adds to this literature and studies the association between maternal exposure to suffrage reforms and children's old‐age longevity. We utilize changes in suffrage laws across US states and over time as a source of incentivizing maternal investment in children's health and education. Using the universe of death records in the US over the years 1979–2020 and implementing a difference‐in‐difference econometric framework, we find that cohorts exposed to suffrage throughout their childhood live 0.6 years longer than unexposed cohorts. Furthermore, we show that these effects are not driven by preexisting trends in longevity, endogenous migration, selective fertility, and changes in the demographic composition of the sample. Additional analysis reveals that improvements in education and income are candidate mechanisms. Moreover, we find substantial improvements in early‐adulthood socioeconomic standing, height, and height‐for‐age outcomes due to childhood exposure to suffrage movements. A series of state‐level analyses suggest reductions in infant and child mortality following suffrage law change. We also find evidence that counties in states that passed the law experienced new openings of County Health Departments and increases in physicians per capita.