Female empowerment and its implications for women's health care utilization in India

Domestic violence against women is a serious public health issue since it has a prolonged negative consequence on maternal and child health outcomes. India presents a unique example of this problem: India is a patriarchal society and is well known for its inegalitarian gender relations.  This paper observes that the position of young married women within the household is a critical determinant of their well-being and in addition, their children’s long-term growth prospects and healthy lifestyle. Using 1998 and 2005 data from the National Family Health Survey this paper analyzes the health consequences of women empowerment on young women in India. Specifically, I analyze how regional differences in women’s autonomy, proxied by their inheritance rights associate with their decisions about health care utilization. To test for causality I use an exogenous change in the state laws for inheritance rights as enacted through amendments in the Hindu Succession Act of 1956, as a natural experiment to analyze its effect on female autonomy and female health outcomes. More specifically, using a probit estimation approach I study whether women who were subjected to these laws have a higher probability of seeking antenatal care than women who were not subjected to the inheritance laws. I find evidence that women who were subject to these laws were likely to have a higher probability of seeking antenatal care than those women who were not subject to the law. The results serve policy makers to identify the cost-effective interventions that will improve the social and health status of women in India.