ResearchProblem
Early childhood development (ECD) is crucial for overall growth, as recent studies highlight that epigenetic, immunological, physiological, and psychological adaptations begin in early childhood, forming the foundation for lifelong development (Young, 2002) Evidence from low and middle-income countries indicates that children who participated in early childhood educational programs experienced a significant 25% increase in cognitive development compared to those who did not (Glewwe, 2005).
ECDwidelya c c e p t e d a s t h e f o u n d a t i o n o f s u s t a i n a b l e d e v e l o p m e n t i n d e v e l o p i n g countries.AfterthepublicationofTheLancet,thelandmarkseries,child’sdevelopmenti n developingcountriesin2007andchilddevelopmentindevelopingcountriesIIi n2 0 1 1 , thenumberofscientificpublicationsonacoretopicofEarlyC h i l d h o o d Dev elopment hassubstantiallyincreased.Therealsohasbeenincreasinginnumbersoff u n d i n g pro gramsforearlychildhooddevelopmentasrecentresearchinearlyhumand e v e l o p m e n t affectoveralldevelopmentthroughoutthelifecourse(Brittoetal.,2017)
Earlyc h i l d h o o d d e v e l o p m e n t i s g r a d u a l l y i m p r o v e d t h r o u g h o u t t h e p a s t d e c a d e s b e c a u s e ofthehelpandsupportfrommanydevelopmentage ncies.TogetherwiththeeffortstoachievetheMillenniumDevelopmentGoals,whichUNDPha sdeclaredsince1 99 0,sothattherehasbeenagreatimprovementinchildsurvivalwhilem ortalityofchildunderfiveisdramaticallydropped.
ManypiecesofstudyhavefoundasignificantrelationbetweenMother’sEducationandc h i l d d e v e l o p m e n t i n m a n y a s p e c t s Barrera( 1 9 9 0 b ) , f o r e x a m p l e , h a s f o u n d t h a t mater naleducationlevelhasapositivecorrelationwithhealthandnutritionalstatusoft h e child.Hillan dKing(1995)hasalsoexplainedtherelationshipbetweeneducationallev el ofmotherandchild’s well-beingastheincreaseofmother’seducationresultsin havinglessnumberchildren’sinafamily,consequently,thisallowsfamilytoinvestmo reontheirchildren.
SomefactonLaosocial,economicStatus
Government policyongender
Laos' first constitution, adopted in 1991, guarantees gender equality in politics, economy, culture, and society, as outlined in family law In 2003, the National Assembly revised the family law, emphasizing the state's commitment to promoting women's advancement and protecting the rights and benefits of women and children This reflects the Lao government's concern for the importance of women and children The law also ensures that all Lao citizens have the freedom of settlement and movement, mandating equal treatment for women of all ethnic groups regarding legal rights, economic opportunities, and social benefits.
Apartfromstatingontheconstitutionandthelaw,therearemanyotherlawsandlegaldocuments whichreflectedtheprincipleofequalitybetweenmenandwomen,Laborl a w 1994for example,whichrequiresnondiscriminationinemployment,equalsalaryp a y forbothgend ersnotonlyquantifybutqualityandvalue.
Femaleworkershaveherr i g h t tobeoffofworkatleastninety- daysofthematernityperiodwithnormalpayfromt h e i r employersorfromthesocialsecurityfund. Andatleastthirtymoredayscouldbeallowedassupplementaryincaseofillnessresultingfrompre gnancy.
In October 2004, the National Assembly of the Lao PDR enacted the Law on Development and Protection of Women, which was subsequently endorsed by the President through a decree This legal framework aims to enhance women's roles and establish essential provisions for their protection, ensuring that the interests of women are safeguarded by the state, society, and family The law promotes women's knowledge, competencies, and moral values, strives for gender equality, and seeks to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women It also addresses issues such as trafficking in women and children, domestic violence, and aims to create conditions that enable women's participation as equal contributors to national development and protection Furthermore, it emphasizes the shared responsibility of the state, society, and family in fostering knowledge, capacity, and gender equality for women.
Notonly fromlawandregulationandotherlegaldocumentsincountrylevel,Laosisal s o a si g n at o r y t o a numberofinternational conventions, which the countryiscommittedtoimplementing.ItjoinstheconventiononthePoliticalRightofWomenin1
9 6 9 , a n d r a t i f i e s t h e c o n v e n t i o n o n t h e e l i m i n a t i o n o f a l l f o r m s o f d i s c r i m i n a t i o n againstwomen(CEDAW)andtheconventionontheRightofChild(CRC)in1981an d1 9 9 0 , respectively.CEDAWprohibitswomen’sdiscriminationandprotectstheirrightsandCRCo bligatesgovernmenttoprotecttherightsofchildren-girlsandboys– andtoe n s u r e thattheirbasicneedaremet Safemotherhoodis alsopartof the CRC.Thegovernment’scommitmentto genderequalityisalsoexpressedinpoli cydocument,includingthoseonpopulation,healthandhumanresources.
Laos has integrated the core principles of various conventions into its constitution, yet there is a pressing need to enhance the legal framework due to a lack of experience, human resources, and public awareness The Ministry of Justice is actively working to raise awareness about women's rights and their challenges Plans are underway to incorporate gender training into the legal education curriculum at the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the National University of Laos Additionally, gender training will be provided for crime investigators and judges of the Supreme Court, aiming to improve awareness of human rights, particularly for women, ethnic minorities, children, and other marginalized groups.
Mechanism
Toimprovethewomen’sstatus andgender equality,theLaogovernmentassigned theL ao Women’sU n i o n a n d L a o N a t i o n a l C o m m i s s i o n f o r A d v a n c e m e n t o f Women(NCAW)asmachineriestoimplementtheirfunctions.
TheLaoWomen’sUnionisamassorganizationauthorizedunderarticle7ofthe1991co n s t i t u t i o n t o mobilizea n d p r o t e c t t h e r i g h t s a n d b e n e f i t s o f a l l L a o womena n d c h i l d r e n I t w a s e s t a b l i s h e d i n 1 9 9 5 u n d e r t h e nameo f t h e L a o PatrioticWomen’sA s s o c i a t i o n , initiallyactedasaunitingfrontforallLaowomenofallethnicgroupsanda l l socialstr atainthestrugglefortheliberationofthecountry.
AftertheliberationandtheproclamationoftheLaoPDRonDecember2,1975,theo r g anizatio n changeditsnametotheLaoWomen’sUnion(LWU)andexpandeditsroleandmandate toconformthesocioeconomicdevelopmentofthenewera.Withstatussameasthemini steriallevel,Ithastheorganizationstructurefromthe centralleveltot h e g r a s s r o o t s l e v e l T h e I V N a t i o n a l L a o Women’sC o n g r e s s a p p r o v e d t h e L a o Women’sS l o g a n : “ T h r e e g o o d s ” m e a n i n g : “ beinga g o o d c i t i z e n , b e i n g g o o d i n d e v e l o p m e n t , havingagoodculturalfa mily”.
Ther o l e s o f t h e LWUa r e : t o e d u c a t e w o m e n o f a l l e t h n i c g r o u p s a s statedinth econstitution,laws,legislationsandinternational conventionsrelated tother ightandb e n e f i t s ofwomenandchildren;toprotecttherightandbenefitsofLaowo menandchildren;tomobilizeandadvancewomentoactivelyparticipateinthesocial- economicd e v e l o p m e n t ; t o takepartinprotectingoffinecultureandtraditionsofLaowomenofa l l ethnicgroups.
TheLaoWomen’sUnionisthenationalmechanism forthepromotionofequalrightsa n d t h e a d v a n c e m e n t o f women.T h e U n i o n h a s ther e s p o n s i b i l i t y foro v e r s e e i n g d i r e c t l y ori n d i r e c t l y t h e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f a l l g o v e r n m e n t p o l i c i e s a n d p r o g r a m s r e l a t e d towomen’sdev elopmentandgenderissues.
Overthepast30years,theLaoWomen’sUnionexpandeditsactivitiestosupportskilltraining,inc omegeneration,andfinancialassistancef o r ethnicm i n o r i t y andruralwomen;goodheal thpracticesandfamilyplaning;awareness-raisingaboutwomen’s rights,includingintheworkplaceandinrelationtolandregistrationandtitling; t hee s t a b l i s h m e n t ofwomen’sprofessionalassociations;andwomen’sadvancementinthec ivilserviceandtheNationalAssembly.Morerecently,theLWUstartedtoaddress emergingissuessuchasdomesticviolence,HIV/
Since 1997, the LWU has played a significant role in advocating for gender equality and women's empowerment through the Gender Resource Information and Development Center (GRID) This initiative focuses on raising gender awareness and providing gender analysis to government officials at all levels to facilitate gender mainstreaming Key accomplishments of GRID include coordinating with the National Statistics Center to promote the use of sex-disaggregated statistics, collaborating with CPI to develop guidelines and conduct training on gender-sensitive planning, and providing gender awareness and skills training for government staff and media Additionally, GRID has conducted quantitative and qualitative research on various issues affecting Lao women, such as their participation in village decision-making, gender and land, gender and energy, and women entrepreneurs The center has also consulted with CPI and line ministries to integrate gender into the NGPES, prepared a country gender analysis and profile, and created a website along with newsletters, information sheets, brochures, posters, calendars, and videos.
In early 2002, the Lao government initiated the establishment of the Lao National Commission for the Advancement of Women (Lao NCAW) to promote gender equality and women's advancement by learning from the experiences of Vietnam and the Philippines Officially established by Decree No 37 in April 2003, the Lao NCAW differs from the Lao Women's Union (LWU) as it is a state organization focused on protecting the rights and interests of Lao women across various ethnic groups The Lao NCAW serves as a central coordinating body, collaborating with local authorities and international organizations to implement government policies on gender equality and eliminate discrimination against women To enhance its effectiveness, the Prime Minister of Lao PDR mandated the creation of units for women's advancement within ministries and local authorities, known as sub-units.
Commissionsont h e A d v a n c e m e n t o f Womenw i t h t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f c o o r d i n a t i n g t h e i mp l em ent atio n of nationallaws,policiesandplansfortheadvancementofwomenbytheirrespectiveorganizatio ns.
The National Stategyforthe Advancement ofWomenfor theyear2005-2010that arei n c o n f o r m i t y withtheBeijinPlatformforActionwhichfocusonfivemaingoals:
(1)E n h a n c e w o m e n ’ s p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f t h e N G P E S f o r t h e e n t i r e p o p u l at i on andwomenthemselves;(2)promotetheeducationofwomen; (3)Improvewomen’saccesstohealthcareservices;
Althoughtt h e L a o w o m e n h a v e o b t a i n e d s e v e r a l a c h i e v e m e n t s f r o m i m p l e m e n t i n g differentactivities,butitstillfacessomedifficultiesandchallengingtha tslowdownt h e processoftheiradvancementsuchas:thelackofhumancapacityto effectivelyc a r r y outge nd er m a i n s t r e a m i n g wi th in p r o g r a m s andthrough t r a in in g exercisesfor m i n st r y staff;thelackofaccuratesex- disaggregatedandrelevantgenderdatatosupportp ol i cy - m a k i n g ; l i m i t e d b u d g e t a n d r e s o u r c e s t o s u p p o r t t h e g e n d e r mainstrea mingp r o c e s s ; andthecoordinationofgendermainstreamingactivitiesamonggov ernmentministries,internationaldonorsandINGOsstilllimited.
Educationpolicytowardwomenempowerment
AlthoughLaoPDRhasmadequantitativeandqualitativeprogressineducationoverthepast severalde cades,educationindicatorsremainamongthelowestinEastAsia.Therea r e starkdisparitiesbetwee nurbanandruralareas,boysandgirl,richandpoor.Withinurbanareas,thegendergapineducati onhaspracticallyclosed.Meanwhile,ruralarearecordedsomeofthelowesteducationalin dicatorsinthecountry,andthegendergapcontinuestowiden.Indeed,asignificantpro portionofchildren,especiallygirlsand ethicminoritygroupsinremoteareasareoutofschool.Therearemoreilliteratewoment h a n men.
Causesof illiteracyandlow attendanceamonggirlsandwomenvaryacrossprovincesa n d a m o n g t he d i f f e r e n t e t h n i c g r o u p s P o v e r t y traditional b e l i e f s , somep r e f e r e n c e languages,andremotenes sareimportantfactors.Otherscouldbedroppingoutofschoole i t h e r duetohouseholdchores,earlymarr iageorpregnancy.Manypoorfamiliesdonots e e therelevanceofformaleducationforimpr ovingtheirlivelihoods,andthelackofinterestbyparentsdiscourageschildrenfromattendin gschool.
Government policyoneducation
TheLaoConstitutionandEducationlawrecognizetherightofallcitizenstoeducation.Theypromotet heprincipleofcompulsoryprimary educationandthedevelopmentofe d u c a t i o n withparticularattentiontoethnicmin oritygroups,womeninthegreatestpoverty,andbothdisableandespeciallytalentedch ildren.ThemostsignificantdocumentistheStrategicPlan20yearsto2020,andthefiveyeardevel opmentPlanforE d u c a t i o n Governmentwidepolicieshavealsoimpactedoneducati on:inparticular,thePrimeMinisterDecreeonimplementingDecentralizationofEdu catonSector,thef i v eyear-social-economicPlanandtheNationalPovertyReductionPlan.
The Lao Government has ratified international agreements related to education, including CEDAW and CRC, and has committed to the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly focusing on Education for All (EFA) The goal is to achieve a net enrollment rate (NER) of 95% in primary education and a NER of 74% in lower secondary education by 2015 In 2004, education expenditure accounted for 11.8% of GDP The Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES) is currently implementing a seven-year basic education project for girls, funded at $55 million, along with a school feeding program in remote areas to assist poor children and ethnic minority groups in accessing education.
LiteracystatusofLaopeople
About40%oftheLaopopulationlivesbelowthepovertylineandpovertyisamajordeterm inantofwhogoestoprimaryschoolforhowlongandwithwhatresults.Overall adultilliteracyinLaoPDRisabout34percent,withtheratebeinghigherforwomen4 5 % th anmen23%(Bank,2002).
Thegendergapisstillpronounced,particularlyamongruralhouseholds,poorh o u s e h o l d s and ethnicminorities.Important gainsweremarein urbanareasinthelastw h o decades,withthegapbetweenliterate menandwomenqu icklyclosing.Theseabsolutegainshavebeenlargestforthepoor,inparticularpoorurban femaleswhosep r o g r e s s inthelastfewyearsexceededthatofboys(KingandVandeWalle2 005).
Genderdisparitiesinliteracyarehigher inthehighland areaswherealargenumberofethnicminoritieslive.At29%,theliteracyrateforpoorruralnoLa o-Taiwomenisthel o w e s t ofallstandinginsharpcontrastto66%forpoorruralLao- Taiwomen(WorldB an k 2006).Indicatorsvaryevenamongthevariousethno- linguisticgroups,withonly2 0 % ofChine-
A l t h o u g h theMinistryofEduationhasbeenmakingeffortstoclose thegap,thed i sp ar i t i e s stillexistandhavetobeovercome.
PrimaryenrollmentratesinLaoareamongthelowestinEastAsia,withthelowestratesb e i n g amonget hnicminoritygirlslivinginruralareas(UNESCO2003).Eightypercento f villages haveaprimary schoollocated inthata re a , outofwhich only36%havecompleteprimaryschools(a ll5grades)(NationalCensus2015).Thesituationinthe
Northregionisofparticularconcernnationwide,90percentofschoolsinthepoorestdis trictsareincomplete,andmorethan40%ofstudentsattendanincompleteschool.
Then e t i n t a k e h a s d o u b l e d d u r i n g t h e l a s t f i v e yearsi n t h e 4 6 p o o r e s t d i s t r i c t s However,inthosedistrictswithhighconcentrationsofethnicminorities,t hreeoffivechildrenattendschoolatsomeperiod,butonlyhalfofthesecompleteabasiceducation.T h e vastmajorityofethnicminoritychildrennevermakeitpastsecondgrade.
Inruralareas,morethan40%ofallgirlsand30%ofallboyswillhavedroppedoutbef oretheend ofthefifthyear.For nonLao-Tai studentsinrural areas,nearly50%oft h e m dropoutattheendofprimaryschool.(KingandVandeWalle,2005)
Taimenfromurbanareas.However,therea r e notabledifferencesamongthevariousgroups.Fori nstance,amongtheHmong-
LuM i e n , 48%ofruralgirlsareenrolledinprimaryschoolcomparedto66%ofboys.Asf o r theMong-
Khmer,57%and61%ofruralgirlsandboysareattendingprimaryschool.Whilethegendergapissmall eramongmenandwomenfromtheChine-
Tibetethnicg r o u p , only33%ofgirlsand39%ofboylivinginruralareasareenrolledin primaryschool.ForallthreenonLao-
Table1.2:Meanprimaryschoolenrollment rates(in%)forchildrenaged 6-12(2012-2 0 1 3 )
Progressionfromtheprimarytothesecondarycycleisdifficult.About35%ofstudentse n r o l l inse condaryeducation,butonlyabout5percentcompletethe fullsixyearsandlessthan5percentofchildrencontinueontouniversitylevel.
16agegroupof38percentformalesand32percentforfemales),adropof48%and42%res pectively.Whileoverallnetl o w e r secondaryenrollmentforurbanstudentswas48% for,netenrollmentforruralc h i l d r e n wasonly25%.
Universalizationo f t h e q u a l i t y o f b a s i c e d u c a t i o n a t t h e p r i m a r y l e v e l a n d continuedexpansionofparticipationatlowersecondarylevel, ensuringthatallpeopleh a v e theopportunitytoapplytheireducationtoservethesocialeconomi cprograms;
Thetrainingofskilled workers,technicians, professionals,andintellect ualtoh av ethecapacitytoapplymodernscienceandtechnologytoservedevelopmentneeds;a n d
InLaos,Publicpolicyanditspracticearelikelymismatched,publicinvestmentmainlyf o c u s onu rbaninfrastructureandbusinesssubsidieswhichbelievedtohelpboostthe
2016,from3 to2,4%ofGDP,whilehealthcareforchildrenaremainlyintheresponsibilityofthem i n i s t r y ofhealththismightbethecausesleadtothefluctuationinmotherandchildh e a l t h statusinLaos.
AccordingtoLSIS2012,and2017ECDindexofLaoshadreachedrespectively 81,3%;89,1%However, ECDintheNorthernpartofLaoshasbeenconsideredf arp o o r er thanmiddleandsouthernparts.AsurveyconductedbytheWorldBankoutof 7.520childrenfrom5Northernprovinces,revealsthatonly25%ofchildrenattendedsome formofearlychildhoodeducation,22%receivedsomeformofhealthservices,50 %arest unted.
Duetolessnumberofscientificstudiesonthistopicavailableandhasbeendone,t h e pub licacceptanceoftheimportanceofECDhasbeenknownonlyinlimitedsectors,i n Laos,asaresult,i t’svitalforthisstudytoinvestigateandscientificallyprovether e l a t i o n s h i p betwe enmaternaleducationlevelandearlychildhooddevelopment,thiss e e m i n g l y e n v i s i o n f o r p o l i c y m a k e r t o paymucha t t e n t i o n o n i n v e s t i n g i n humanc a p i t a l for longrunsocialeconomicdevelopment.AlsoThisexpectedresultofthestudya l s o aimst o a d d t o t h e l i t e r a t u r e a n d p r o m o t i n g s u s t a i n a b l e d e v e l o p m e n t i n L a o s throughth eimportantroleofeducationalandhealthandinformationsectors.
Researchobjective andResearchquestion
Thisdesertionismainlytoexaminetherelationship betweenmaternaleducation levela n d earlychildhooddevelopmentasaholisticviewofchildhealthstatusinLaosduring2000- 2016.Bycontrollingothervariablessuchasthefamilywealthquintile,andsomeo t h e r ’ s charact ersofmotherthemainobjectiveandconsiderationofthedissertationarea sbelow:
ScopeoftheStudy
Contribution
Toa c c o m p l i s h t h e MillenniumD e v e l o p m e n t G o a l ( M D G ) a n d s u s t a i n a b i l i t y d e v e l o p m e n t inLaos,itisimportanttorecognizetheimportance of earlychildhooddevelopment.It’ssupposedthatonlyifthedeterminantofthedevel opmentisconfirmed,thepolicymakingcanbetargetedontherightdeterminantscient ifically.T h e f i n d i n g o f t h i s r e s e a r c h m a y p r o v i d e s c i e n t i f i c e v i d e n c e f o r p o l i c y m a k e r s t o r e c o g n i z e t h e r o l e o f C h i l d d e v e l o p m e n t , m a t e r n a l e d u c a t i o n a n d womena c c e s s t o information.
Thesis structure
Thist hes is i s or ga niz ed in to 5 chapters,a b o v e sect io n i s f i r s t ch ap ter , a n d s e c t i o n s h e r e a f t e r are:
Thischapterfocusesmainly onliteraturereviewandempiricalstudiesconcerningther e l a t i o n s h i p betweenmothe r’seducationandearlychildhooddevelopment.Thisc h a p t e r discussestheresultsofthepre viousstudiesandcomparesthefactorswhichmayberelatedtooneanother,suchaswhetherthedifferenceb etweenfather’seducationandmother’seducation,betweenadoptedchildrenandownbirth children,orothersocioeconomicdimensionssuchasethnicity,geographicallocation,gendera ndwealtho f familyorawidevarietyofsocialandeconomiccircumstances,behaviorsmatterand otherr e l a t e d f a c t o r s Finally,i t a l s o p r o v i d e s t h e c o n c e p t u a l f r a m e w o r k u p o n t h e p r e v i o u s studies.
Chapter2:Researchmethodology.Thischapterpresentstheresearchmethodolog y,datas o u r c e a n d r e g r e s s i o n t e c h n i q u e A n d f i n a l l y , mentionst h e h y p o t h e s e s f o r t h e thesis.
Chapter3:Empiricalresults.Thischapterpresentsthestatisticdescriptionsofthedataa s wellasbiv ariateandmultivariateanalysis.Alongwiththediscussionandprovisiono f e v i d e n c e f r o m t h e r e g r e s s i o n r e s u l t s o n t h e f i n d i n g i n a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h maternaleducation, womenaccesstoinformationandearlychildhooddevelopment.
Chapter4:Conclusion.Thischapterconcludesthemainfindingsoftheempiricalstudyresults,provi desdiscussiononthelimitationsandsuggestionforfutureresearchandstudyrelated tothetopic.
Theoreticalbackground
Earlychildhooddevelopmentisamulti- dimensionalconcept,asaresult,conceptualmodelf o r i t a r e d i v e r s e i n r e s p o n s e t o d i f f e r e n t f i e l d s o f study.Basedo n d i f f e r e n t theoriese a r l y childhoodd e v e l o p m e n t c a n b e e x p l a i n e d byp s y c h o - a n a l y t i c a l , b e h a v i o r a l andsociallearningtheories,BiologicalTheories,c ognitivedevelopment,sy stem theory.Eachofthesetheories helpsresearcherstoidentifythedeterminantandu n d e r s t a n d therelationbetween am o n gsocial-economicfactors thataffectthe d e v e l o p m e n t ofachild.
Earlychildhooddevelopmentinpsychoanalytical,base on2markabletheoriesSig mundF r e u d a n d E r i k E r i k s o n , t h e f o r m e r s t r e s s e d t h a t t h e c h i l d ’ s p e r s o n a l i t y formationisinfluencedbyparents’smanagementoftheirsexualandaggressivedri ves,the latter which extends the Freud’sin whichSocietalinfluenceshadbeenincludedtoexplainthepersonalityformation.InBehaviora landSocialLearningtheories,studyther e l a t i o n s h i p betweentheenvironmentandnurturingan dthegrowthofachild.
Inliteraturefactors affectchilddevelopment orchildhealthstatus are explained byd i f f e r e n t indicatorsandvariousmethodsofmeasurment.
(Glewwe,1999)hasexplainedthedeterminantofchild’shealthisinfluencedbyparentalschooling ,householdassets,localhealthevironmentandc h i l d ’ s healthendowment.
According to ecological systems theory, a child's development is influenced by the complex relationships within their environment Bronfenbrenner's theory outlines various "layers" of this environment, each impacting a child's growth Recently renamed "Bioecological Systems Theory," it highlights that a child's biology is a fundamental aspect of their developmental context The interplay between a child's developing biology, their immediate family or community, and the broader societal environment shapes their growth Changes or conflicts in any one layer can affect the others, emphasizing the need to consider not only the child and their immediate surroundings but also the larger environmental interactions when studying development.
The microsystem is the closest structure to a child's health status, encompassing the relationships and interactions that influence a child's development within their immediate surroundings, such as family, school, neighborhood, and childcare environments (Berk, 2000) At this level, relationships exert bi-directional influences, meaning a child's parents can shape their beliefs and behaviors, while the child can also impact the parents' actions and beliefs Bronfenbrenner highlights these bi-directional influences and their occurrence across all environmental levels The interactions within a layer and between layers are crucial to understanding this theory Although bi-directional influences within the microsystem are the most significant and impactful on the child, interactions at outer levels can still affect the inner structures.
Second,the mesosystemisthelayerprovidestheconnectionbetweenthestructuresoft h e child’smicros ystem(Berk,2000).Examples:theconnectionbetweenthechild’steacherandhispare nts,betweenhischurchandhisneighborhood,etc.
Third,theexosystemisthelayerdefinedthelargersocialsysteminwhichthechild doesnotfunctiondirectly.Thestructuresinthislayerimpactthechild’sdevelopmentbyint eractingwithsomestructurein hermicrosystem(Berk,2000).Parentworkplaceschedulesorcommunity- basedfamilyresourcesareexamples.Thechildmaynotbed i r e c t l y involvedatthisl evel,buthedoesfeelthepositiveornegativeforceinvolvedwi th theinteractionwithhisown system.
Afterthat,themacrosystemislayermaybeconsideredtheoutermostlayerinthechild’se n v i r o n m e n t Whilenotbeingaspecificframework,thislayeriscomprisedofculturalv a l u e s , customs,a ndlaws (Berk,2000).Theeffectsof largerprinciplesdefinedbythemacro sy stem haveacascadinginfluencethroughouttheinterac tionsofallotherlayers.F o r example,ifitisthebeliefoftheculturethatparentsshouldbeso lelyresponsibleforraisingtheirchildren,thatcultureislesslikelytoprovideresourcestohelppar ents.
This,inturn,affectsthestructuresinwhichtheparentsfunction.Theparents’abilityorinabilitytocar ry outthatresponsibilitytowardtheirchildwithinthe contextofthechild’smicrosystemislike wiseaffected.
Finally,thechronosystemwhichisasystemencompassesthedimensionoftimeasitr e l a t e s toachild’senvironments.Elementswithinthissystemcanbeeitherexternal,suc hasthetimingofaparent’sdeath,orinternal,suchasthephysiologicalchangesthatoccurwiththeagi ngofachild.Aschildrenget older,theymayreactdifferentlytoenvironmental c hanges andmaybemoreable todeterminemorehow thatchangewillin fl uen ce them.
FromBronfenbrenner’s(1986)ecologicaltheory,thesefactorsincludematernale d u c a t i o n (microsystemlevel),maternalandfamilyinvolvementinchildren’shom eactivities(macrosystemlevel),maternalandfamilyinvolvementinchildren’sschoo lactivities(mesosystemlevel),andthesocialsupport(exosystemlevel).
Also,theecologicaltheoryviewschildoutcomesasdependentuponthecharacteristicso f t h e c h i l d , p a r e n t , f a m i l y , s c h o o l , c o m m u n i t y , a n d l a r g e r society,a s w e l l a s t h e i nteractionsamongthesevariables.However,someresearchershavearguedthatthistraditi onalecologicalframeworkislimitedbecauseitd o e s notadequatelyconsiderv a r i a b l e s suchassocialposition(e.g.,socialclass,ethnicity,race,andgender),socialst r a t i f i c a ti o n (e g.Rac is m, prejudice, discrimination, andsegregation),andadaptive c u l t u r e (e.g.,traditionsandculturallegacies,migrationandacculturation,economicandpoliticalhis tories)experiencedbyfamilymembersofcolorwhoarebornintheUnitedS t a t e s oro t h e r c o u n t r i e s T o a d d r e s s t h i s p r o b l e m , C o l l e t a l
( 1 9 9 6 ) p r o p o s e d a n integrativemodeltos t u d y thedevelopmentofcompetenceinchil drenofcolor,byconsideringbothsocialpositionandsocialstratificationconstructsatth ecorerathert h a n attheperiphery ofatheoreticalformulation ofchildren’sd evelopment.In thismodel,theresearchersaddresssomeimportantfactorsomitt edorneglectedinm a i n s t r e a m ecologicalmodels,suchasexperiences ofracis mandsegregation, intragroupvariabilityanddiversitywithinminoritygroupfamilies,a ndtheeffectsofs o c i a l stratificationandacculturationonthedevelopmentalcompe tenciesofminoritygr oup children.
Childreni n h a b i t b o t h familiesa n d c h i l d c a r e m i c r o s y s t e m s , a n d t h e s e s y s t e m s a r e linked.Parentsselectparticulartypesofchildcare,ofvaryingquality,forchil drenofd i f f e r e n t agesandthesedecisionsvarywithfamilystructure,parentalchara cteristics,g e o g r a p h i c a l l o c a t i o n , a n d o t h e r f a c t o r s S i n g e r e t a l
( 1 9 9 8 ) a r g u e d t h a t c h i l d c a r e researchersmustconsidertheseselectioneff ectsiftheyaretoaccurately modeltheim p a ct ofchildcareonchildren’sdevelopment overtime.Intheresearch,theauthorsrefertotheeffectsoffamily-levelandcommunity- levelfactorsonchild-care.
This study posits that maternal education significantly influences children's health in two primary ways Firstly, women with higher education levels demonstrate increased production and allocation efficiencies in their children's health outcomes, leading to better health conditions with the same health production inputs and optimal combinations of health resources within a given budget Consequently, improved maternal education can enhance both production and allocation efficiencies, thereby positively impacting children's health Secondly, higher maternal education correlates with greater inputs for children's health production, as more educated women tend to earn higher labor market incomes and often partner with equally educated and higher-income spouses This assortative mating effect, combined with enhanced family resources and a better family environment, contributes to the accumulation of human capital that benefits children's health.
Recent literature primarily assesses children's health through metrics like weight, body mass index, and height, which primarily reflect physical well-being Studies by Shanks (2007), Desaia and Alva (1998), and others highlight the role of independent variables, such as mother's education, measured by years of schooling Additionally, research by Britto et al (2017) and Duncan and Dunifon (2012) emphasizes the significance of early childhood development, utilizing the Early Childhood Development (ECD) index as standardized by UNDP for comprehensive evaluation.
Empiricalreview
Theimpactofmaternaleducationonearlychildhooddevelopment
Therelationbetweenmother’seducationandchildhealthhaslongbeensupportedbyman yevidences.Barrera(1990a)researchedtheimpactofmother’seducationonchildh e a l t h inwh ichtheindicatorforgoodorbadchildhealthisdeterminedbyheightforagescores.Thereg ressionresultshowsapositiveeffectofmaternaleducationonchildnutritionaloutcomes.Also,mo ther’seducationimproveschildren’sheightforage.
A study conducted in 22 developing countries examined the impact of maternal education on three key indicators of child health: infant mortality, children's height for age, and immunization status (Desai and Alva, 1998) The research categorized mothers into two educational levels: those with no formal education and those with secondary education The findings revealed a causal relationship between maternal education and infant mortality rates Additionally, there was a positive and significant correlation between maternal education and children's height for age While the correlation between maternal education and immunization status was small, it remained statistically significant in the sampled countries.
Moreover,theeffectofmother’sschoolingonchildhealthiscanalsobeseeninthec a s e o f M o r o c c o ( G l e w w e , 1 9 9 9 ) T h e s t u d y a l s o s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e r e i s a p o s i t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p betweeneducationallevelandchildhealthcondition.However,inthiscase,t h e evidencesindicatedthatitisnotonlyeducation,butalsotheeffectofhouseholdwea lth thatleaveanimpactonchildhealth.
Theassociationofmaternaleducationwithchildhealthstatusmayarisebecausemoree d u c a t e d motherscanbeconsideredasmoreefficient“producers”ofgoodchildhealthoutcome(“pro ductiveefficiency”)byadoptingbetterchildcare practicesorsuperiorhygienes tandards.Alternatively,itcouldbebecausetheychoosehealthinputmixest h a t g e neratem o r e h e a l t h o u t p u t ( “ c a l l o c a t i v e e f f i c i e n c y ” )t h a n s e l e c t e d byl e s s - e d u c a t e d mother(Thu,2014)
Anotherstudiesusednaturalexperimentstoidentifymother’seducation- childhealthr e l a t i o n s h i p I n I n d o n a s i a B r e i e r o v a a n d D u f l o ( 2 0 0 4 ) i n v e s t i g a t e d t h e i m p a c t o f p a r en t s ’ educationonfertilityandchildmortality. Hefoundapositiveandsignificante f f e c t oftheschoolprogramonparents’educati onandanegativeeffectonfertility.B o t h father’sandmo th er ’ seducationwere foundto reducechild mortality.w h i l e as t u d y inTaiwan,Chouetal.
(2010)foundevidenceofacausalrelationshipbetweenp ar en t s’ e d u c a t i o n a n d c h i l d h e a l t h , b u t c o n t r a r y tot h e p r e v i o u s study,m o t h e r ’ se d u c at i o n wasfoundtobe strongereffectthanfather’seducation.However,nonof c o n c e r n e d studiesrevealsthepathwayforinvestigation.
Numerous studies have highlighted the significant impact of maternal education on child health, although some argue that evidence of a causal relationship is limited For instance, Frongillo et al (1997) conducted cross-country OLS regressions analyzing child height-for-age (stunting) and weight-for-height (wasting) in relation to education variables, food security, geographic region, and other factors Their findings indicated that the female literacy rate had a significantly negative effect on stunting However, this study did not account for the heterogeneity in child health endowment and failed to employ instrumental variable methods to address the endogeneity of female literacy rates.
(1984)foundthatthereisnoevidenceofanimpactofp a r e n t s ’ educationonchildhealtho utcomes.Baya(1998),useddatafromatowninBu r k in a F a s o , hef o u n d t h a t a f t erc o n t r o l l i n g f o r f a t h e r ’ se d u c a t i o n , t h e e f f e c t o f mother’seducationon childsurvivallosesitssignificance.Forthisheconcludedthatstudiesonparents’educati onandchildhealthstatusshouldshouldbedoneonbothmotherandfathereducational level.
Handa(1999)studiedtherelationshipbetweenmother’seducationmightandch ildh e a l t h o u t c o m e s byexaminings i x p a t h w a y s t h r o u g h i n c l u d e d i n c o m e e f f e c t s , interactionsw i t h householdcharacteristics,interactionsw i t h c o m m u n i t y se rvices,i n f o r m a t i o n p r o c e s s i n g , unobservedhousehold heterogeneity,andintra- householdb a r g a i n i n g power.UsingdatafromJamaica,Hefoundthatinformationprocessi ngisap at h w ay throughbywhichmother’seducationaffectschildhealthoutcomes.
Webband Block (2004) analyzed household survey data from Central Java, Indonesia, revealing that a mother’s nutritional knowledge significantly influences her child's short-term nutritional status (weight-for-height), while her education level affects long-term nutritional outcomes (height-for-age) However, the study lacked plausible instrumental variables for maternal nutritional knowledge and household expenditure, relying instead on proxy variables, and did not consider the potential omitted variable bias due to the heterogeneity of child health endowments Similarly, Appoh and Krekling (2005) examined data from the Volta Region in Ghana and concluded that a mother’s nutritional knowledge is more critical than her education in determining child weight-for-age Nonetheless, they also failed to address the simultaneity of input choices and the endogeneity of maternal health knowledge.
Aftera l l , r e c e n t r e s e a r c h o n t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n m a t e r n a l s c h o o l i n g a n d c h i l d healthhasmovedtowardsunderpinningthe“pathways”inwhichmother’s educationtranslatesintotheimprovementinchildhealth.Whileamajorityoftheeviden cehasn o t directlycontrolledfortheendogeneityofmaternalschooling,introducingdifferent“pa thways”isonewayofisolatingthe“true”impactofmaternaleducationfromthee f f e c t o f confoundingf a c t o r s I n a r e c e n t study,
( G l e w w e , 1 9 9 9 ) i d e n t i f i e s t h r e e c h a n n e l s : 1 ) d i r e c t a c q u i s i t i o n o f b a s i c h e a l t h k n o w l e d g e i n s c h o o l , 2 ) l i t e r a c y and nu mer acy skillslearnedin schooland3)exposuretomodernsociety.Thestudyfoundt h a t mother’shealthknowledgeal oneimpactschildhealthoutcomes.
Accordingto(Boyleetal.,2006),thelinkagesbetweenmaternaleducationandchildh e a l t h iscross- nationaldifference; childhealthrisks arereducedath ig he rlevelsofhouseh oldwealthdespitetheunbalancedrelationshipbetweenchildhealthandlevelso feduc ationwiththepatternofhouseholdwealth.However,thisresearchhassomelimit ations,includingt h e modelisdistributedwithsomeunnecessaryvariablesf o r improvingon policiesinpopulationhealth;thelimitedregressionforvariation.
Theroleofmother’seducationandwomenaccesstoinformationimpacto n earlyc
Maternaledu cat io n i t s e l f m a y notbet he mostan donlyfactorse x p l a i n e d t h e c h i l d h e a l t h outcome,i n literature,theaccesstoinformationofwomenisalsobelievedtobeo t h er i mportantfactorsallowthebetteroutcomeforchildren,herearesomepronouncestudiesthatrevea ltherelationshipbetweenwomenaccesstoinformationand childh e a l t h outcome.
Thereshallbemanydifferentfactorsthataffectchildhealthfunctionsatthedifferntl evelofeducationalofparents,householdwelfareandplacewherechildborn.InBrazil,fo r excample,T h o m a s etal.(1990)analyzedtheroleofincome, mother’sliteracyandi n f o r m a t i o n p r o c e s s i n g , a n d t h e i n t e r a c t i o n o f materna ls c h o o l i n g w i t h c o m m u n i t y services.Theauthorsfindthatformostofthetimeallthei mpactofmaternalschoolingo n childheightcanbe explainedthrough mother’saccesstoinformation,f o r examplee x p o s u r e tomedia.
Theeffectofdevelopmenteconomicsonhealth
MichaelH.Boyle,alhavedonethestudyontheinfluenceofeconomicdevelopmentl e v e l , h ouseholdwealthandmaternaleducationonchildhealthinthedevelopingworld,estimatingtherelati veimportancetochildhealthoutcome(indicatedbyweightandh e i g h t forage)o feconomicdevelopmentlevel(grossdomesticproduct(GDP)co nv er t ed tointernational dollarsusingpurchasingpowerparity(ppp)rates:GDP-
PPP),h o u s e h o l d we al th an d maternale d u c a t i o n an d examinesth e m o d i f y i n g i n f l u e n ce o f n a t i o n a l contextontheseestimates.Itusedinformationcollectedfro mmothersagedf r o m 15-
The study found that maternal education accounted for a significant amount of unique variation in child health, followed by household wealth There was also a notable overlap between maternal education and the other variables examined Regression analyses indicated substantial cross-national variation in the strength and form of associations between child health, household wealth, and maternal education While higher education levels were linked to greater improvements in child health, the relationship with household wealth was less predictable, with diminishing returns observed in some countries This suggests that improving child health involves complex interconnections among various strategies, highlighting the importance for policymakers to consider the moderating effects of national context.
Shanks(2007)studiedtheinfluenceofwealthrelativetoincomeacrossseveralchild’sd e v e l o p m e n t outcomesusingdatafromthepanelstudyofincomedynamics.Thewealthmeasuresincludenet worthandspecificassetholdings.
Thec h i l d outcomemeasurementi n c l u d e s t r o u g h cognitivea c h i e v e m e n t s c o r e a n d r e p o r t e d behaviorproblems.Thefindingofhisresearchshinesthefactthat althoughn o t the mostimportant explanatoryfactor,wealthcanbe relevant,educationalleveloft h e householdheadandmother’scognitiveabilityareconsistentlyimpo rtantfactorsforacademicachievement.Healsosuggeststheadditionalfactorsuchasune mploymenta n d beingafemale-headedhouseholdinfluencebehavior problemsalongwithincomeandwealth.Anotherthingfoundinhisresearchisthattheiss ueofracialdifferences,d ispar i ti es intheacademicachievementdomainbyracedisapp earoraresignificantlyr e d u c e d aswealthandothersocialeconomicstatusvariablesareadde dtothemodel.
Summary
Fromtherecentresearches,theweightofageandtheheightofageareonlymeasuredmethodf o r t h e p h y s i c a l h e a l t h o f c h i l d r e n H o w e v e r , E C D i s s u g g e s t e d a s a n o t h e r o ptionwithmoreaccuracy healthmeasurementtodeterminethechildhealthstatusasf o r thismeasurementcanassessno tonlyphysicalbutalsotheirsocialemotionalaswella s approachtolearning.
Inth is study,t h e modelo r g a n i z es c o n t e x ts o f c h i l d h e a l t h i n t o 3 l e v e l s o f e x t e r n a l i n f l u e n c e , includingthefamilyimpactthechildhealth statusdirectly,theenvironmentelementsandthephysiologicalindirectaffectchildhealth.
Amajorf a c t o r affectingthe limitedr es e a r c h inL a os is t h e la c k o f r e s e a r c h pape rs examiningthisissue.Furthermore,thestudycontributestotheliteratureasoneofthef i r s t researchemployingMICSdataset.Theavailabilitythisresearchmayallowrichertheliteratur eonchildhealthstatus.
Conceptualframework
Theconceptualframeworkguidingthisstudyisbasedonthelinkagebetweenmaternalschooling,c hildcare,andthehealthofchildren.Figures1shows thepossiblelinkagesb e t w e e n maternaleducationandchilddevelopmentstatusthatthisstud yexplores.Thep o s s i b l e p a t h w a y t h r o u g h w h i c h m a t e r n a l e d u c a t i o n c a n a f f e c t t h e c h i l d r e n ’sd e v e l o p m e n t isthroughskillacquisitionthatleadstoimprovedknowle dgeabouthealthcareandparentalknowledge.Therefore,itisexpectedthatwomenwithmoreeducatio naremorea w a r e o f t h e b e n e f i t s o f f e e d i n g c h i l d r e n a t t h e a p p r o p r i a t e time sa n d i n appropriateproportion.Thesepracticesleadtotheimprovementchildhealthstatus.
Numbersofst ud ies havemodeledtheeffectsof maternaleducationo nchild hea lt h outcomesthroughfournon- excludedmodels:socioeconomicstatus,womene m p o w e r m e n t a n d a u t o n o m y , h e a l t h k n o w l e d g e a n d a t t i t u d e s , a n d h e a l t h a n d rep ro du ct iv e behavior.
Maternal education serves as an indicator of socioeconomic status at both individual and household levels, with more educated women typically hailing from higher socioeconomic classes (Frost et al., 2005) These women often enjoy better job opportunities and higher incomes compared to their less educated counterparts Additionally, educated women are more likely to marry men with similar educational backgrounds and socioeconomic status (Barrett and Browne, 1996) They also tend to reside in economically developed areas, such as urban locations, which provide better facilities, including safe water, sanitation systems, and healthcare services Consequently, children from high socioeconomic households, where mothers work in formal sectors, benefit from better nutrition, reduced exposure to infectious diseases, and access to both preventive and curative health services This results in an inverse relationship between a mother's education level and child under-nutrition (Mukuria et al., 2005).
Fromi m p i r i c a l e v i d e n c e s , t h e t h e s i s c o n s t r u c t s 3 h y p o t h e s e s asf o l l o w s : H 1 : T h e maternaleducationpositiveeffectonECD.H2:Womenaccesstoin formationhasap o s i t i v e impactonECD.H3:Regionalsignificantly affectsh ealthanddevelopment statusofLaochildren.
Thisresearchisbasedonfactorsthatmentionedinchapteroneandchaptertwoandli mitationtothea v a i l a b i l t y ofdatas e t I t ’ s o b v i o u s t h a t t h e r e a r e 3 domains o f p e r s p e c t i v e s thathelpidentifyfactorsaffectearlychildhooddevelopmentinitsrelationtomate rnaleducationandaccesstoinformationofwomen.Asearlychildhoodd e v e l o p m e n t is thedimensionintheallroundperspectiveofachild’swellbeingandthepotentialfuturedev elopmentofchildren.
Thefirstdomainofviewsthatpresentsthedirecteffectonthechild’swellbeingwhichthroughtheirE CDstatusespeciallyforthoseinbetween24monthsoldto60monthsc h i l d r e n , appearsi nthe researchby(Bermanetal.,1997),(Behrman andRosenzweig,2002)a n d ( B a k e r e t a l , 1 9 9 2 ) T hesei n c l u d e s M o t h e r ’ s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s : m a t e r n a l education,accesstoinformationofmother,mother’sa ge,ethnicityshebelongsto.
Thes e c o n d d o m a i n o f v i e w s p r e s e n t i n d i r e c t f a c t o r s e f f e c t o n c h i l d ’ s d e v e l o p m e n t status,appearsinliteratureishouseholdcharacteristicssuchaswealthindex,owni ngl a n d plot,numberofhouseholdmember,numberofchildrenunderfiveyear-old- age,c l e a n waterusing andtoiletfacility.Wealthindex and owningland plotwill representt h e economicstatusoffamilyaswearenotabletoobtainhouseholdincomes;number o fh o u s e h o l d members u p p o r t t h e h y p o t h e s i s t h a t t h e m o r e memberm a y a f f e c t t o p r o d u c t i v i t y ofhealthofthefamilyinwhatway?;otherhypothesisrelatedtonu mbero f childrenunderfivesyearsoldmightresultinthebettercareasexplainsbyattentionstotakin gcarecanbeless.
Thefinaldomainissocial,economicandenvironmentcharacteristicincludesofhealthf a c i l i t y ( publichealthcareservices)thisalsoknownascommunity-levelfactorswhich representedbyr e g i o n a l a n d r e s i d e n c e w h i c h a c c o u n t f o r b o t h h e a l t h c a r e s e r v i c e provisionindifferentregion.
Inputs for child’s well being Outputs : as child’s well being (ECD)
Women’s accessing to Information Age, Ethnicity
Household Characteristic: family’s wealthy (wealth quintile, owning land plot) Household member, children under five
Analyticalmodelanddataprocessing
Model
Accordingto( G l e w w e , 1 9 9 9 ) i t isn o t n e c e s s a r y t o e s t i m a t e s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d t h e pathwaysbywhichmother’sschoolingaffectschildhealth.Theprod uctionfunctionf o r earlychildhooddevelopment:
ECDiistheearlychildhooddevelopmentscorelevel,whichhastwovalues,1f o r properl ydevelopedand0forpoorlydeveloped.
Themodelasequation(1)needsabroadrangeofdatawhichinthiscasetheavailabilityofdataislimi ted.Thereducedform ofthemodeltoshowtherelationshipbetweenmother’sedu cationandchilddevelopmentisthen:
Ms:ParentalCharacteristics:Mother’sage,Mother’sschoolyear,Accessinformation, ageofmother,ethnicityofmother
H:Householdcharacteristics:u s e cleanwater,numberoffamilymembers,numberofc h i l d r e n under5.
ECD EarlyChildhoodDevelopment 0=poorlydeve loped1=Prope rlyDeveloped
MEDU MaternalEducation NumberofSch oolyearattend ed
ACINFOR AccesstoInformation 0=notaccess1AcesstotheInte rnet
CHGEN Child’sgender 1=Male0m ale
CLEANWT UsedCleanwaterfordrinking 0=NotCleanW ater 1=Usedcleanw aterfordrink HHMEM NumberofHouseholdMember Ordinalnumber
UNDER5 NumberofChildrenUnder5 OrdinalNumbe r ETNGROUP EthnicityoftheHouseholdhead 1:Lao-
OWNLPLOT OwnedLandPlot 0=notownanyl andplot1=own atleast1landplot
*Regionaldifferenceinthiscase,duetolimitationofdata,it’sassumedthatindifferentregionsofLaoha vehealthfacilitiesdifferently,andshoulditoccuresthatchildren’sd e v e l o p m e n t o utcomesbeaffectedbytheregionalfactors.
Estimation method
Logitregression(Maximumlikelihood) withrobustoptionis occupiedbecausethedependentvariableinourmodelisthecategoricalvariable.Ther egressionresultw i l l representthetrendoftheimpact,whilethecoefficientcanbeesti matedthrought h e marginaleffectofeachindiviualvariables.
Variabledefinitions
Theearlychildhooddevelopment(ECD) inthisstudyisinthecontext ofthechild’sh e a l t h o u t c o m e s s t a t u s , a s a measurementa n d i n d i c a t i o n o f t h e c h i l d ’ s p r e s e n t a n d f u t u r e w e l l b e i n g a n d c a n b e d e t e r m i n e d a n d c a t e g o r i z e d i n t w o s t a t u s e s namely:properlydevelopedandpoorlydevelopedchild.Assessmento fearlychilddevelopmentc a n beusedforpopulationmonitoring,programevaluation,orexplorator yresearch.
Figure2.2:Developmentstagesoflife,(Sources:WD-ECD-measurementtoolkit)
InMIC S, t h e typeo f s u r v e y isbase d o n t h e P a r e n t ’ s E v a l u a t i o n ofDevelopmenta lS t a t u s ( P E D S ) , whichbasedon4domains,10questionstandard ofevaluationofeachch il d t h a t a r e : (1)d o m a i n 1 f o r L i t e r a c y - n u m e r a c y ;
Differentfromd e v e l o p e d country,thesurveymaya p p l y d i f f e r e n t approach,fo rexamplethesurveyimplementationintheUSandEUarebasedon9-
12domain,18q u e s t i o n s includedon:cognitivedevelopment,social- emotionaldevelopment,motord e v e l o p m e n t , languageandemergentliterac y,health-hygiene- safety,culturalknowledgeandparticipation,approachestolearning.
Inthisresearch,Theearly childhooddevelopmentwhichisthemainmeasurementbyU N I C E F areadoptingthest andardtestby4domains,10questionstouseasthekeyexamineindicationforthedevelopm entofeachchildagebetween2and5years.
2 Can(he/she)readatleastfoursimple,popularwords?
3 Does(he/she)knowthenameandrecognizethesymbolatallnumbersfrom1to10?
4 Can(he/she)pickupasmallobjectwithtwofingers,likeastickorarockfromg r o u n d ?
7 Whengivingsomethingtodo,is(he/she)abletodoitindependently?
9 Does(he/she)kick,bite,orhitotherchildren?
E C 3 ; EC1= 1 (can identify/nameat least ten lettersofthe alphabet),EC2=1(Can readatleastfoursimple,popularwords),EC3=1(Knowsthenameandrecogni zest hesymbolofallnumbersfrom1-10).
= 1 (Can pick up asmall object with twofingers, like a stickora rock fromtheground),EC5=1(isnotsometimestoosicktoplay)
(3) Approachestolearning,developmentallyontractifoneorbothofthefollowinga r e true:E C6=1(followssimpledirectionsonhowtodosomethingcorrectly),E C 7 (Whengi vingsomethingtodo,heorsheisabletodoindependently).
(4) Social- emotional,developmentallyontractifatleasttwoofthefollowingaretrue:EC8=1(getsal ongwellwithotherchildren).EC9=1(Doesnotkick,biteo rhitotherchildren),EC10=1( Doesnotgetdistractedeasily)
TocalculatetheECDforeachindividualchildwetestthescoreforeachdomainifa t least1oned omainismissing,thechildisconsideredpoorlydeveloped.
Children’slanguagedevelopmentbeginslongbeforetheemergenceofthefirstword(B loom,1998).Earlyindicatorsoflanguagedevelopmentincludebabbling,pointing,a n d gesturingininfancy,theemergenceoffirstwordsandsentencesinthefirsttwoyear s,leadingto anexplosion ofwordsbetween agestwo and threeyears(Woodwarda n d Markman,1998).Aschildrenmoveintothepreschoolyears,indicatorso flanguage developmentincludechildren’sproductionandunderstandingofwords,theirabilitiestotell storiesandidentifyletters,andtheircomfortandfamiliaritywithbooks.
Underagethreeyears,ch il dr en ’s vocabulary isagoodindicatorof la ng u ag e development.Incultureswithahistoryofliteracy(writtenlanguage),thisrem ainsag o o d indicatoratolderages.However,inculturesthatdonothavealonghist oryofliteracy,o t h e r c r i t e r i a c a n b e u s e d I n someA f r i c a n c u l t u r e s , f o r e xample,g r a m m a t i c a l l y correctandcreativeuseofalliterationandmetaphoraream oreappropriatemarkofanolderchildwhoislinguisticallyadvanced(HarknessandSuper,1 9 7 7 )
Language development, much like cognitive and social-emotional growth, is influenced by stimulating home environments and relationships Research shows that low-income children in the United States develop their vocabularies more slowly than their higher-income peers and use significantly fewer words by kindergarten (Hart and Risley, 1995) This disparity is partly due to lower exposure to infant-directed speech and the reduced lexical richness and sentence complexity of the speech they hear, both of which are critical for vocabulary growth (Hoff, 2003; Hart and Risley, 1992) Additionally, in low-income households, adult speech tends to be less responsive to children's signals, less directed toward infants, and utilized less during shared attention and communication.
LeMonda,Bo r n st e i n , andBaumwell2001).Readingtochildrenearlyinlifealsosupportslanguaged e v el o p m e n t Becausechildren’slanguagedevelopmentisheavilydependentontheirex posure to wordsandbooksinthehome, childrenwhoseparentsare notliteratemaydevelopspeechandvocabularymoreslowly(Fernaldetal.2006).
Large motor development involves acquiring movements that enhance mobility, such as scooting and walking While the timing and sequence of achieving motor milestones can vary among children, most healthy children will eventually learn to walk and develop advanced skills like running and jumping Historically, motor skill advancement was believed to be solely influenced by brain and neuromuscular maturation; however, recent research highlights that factors such as physical growth, caregiving practices (like swaddling or carrying), and opportunities to practice emerging skills also play significant roles in motor progression.
1 9 9 8 ; Adolph,Vereijken,andShrout2003;Karigeretal.2005;Kuklinaetal.2004).
Forinfantsandyoungchildren,largemotorskillsincludelearningtowalkandrun,a n d f o r p r e s c h o o l a g e d c h i l d r e n , l a r g e motors k i l l s i n c l u d e w a l k i n g o n a l i n e , controllingmovementsingames,andjumping.Thetimingofmostlargemotorskillsisg e n e r a l l y notindicativeoffuturecognitivedevelopment(seeHamadanietal.
Developmental delays in children can often be identified through the assessment of motor skills For instance, a child who does not walk by age two may require further evaluation for potential developmental disorders Gross motor skills tests are designed to identify children whose physical development is significantly behind expectations Fine motor skills, essential for tasks like drawing and writing, involve hand-eye coordination and muscle control Preschool-aged children should be able to hold a pencil, write, and draw, as these skills are crucial for exploring their environment and achieving developmental milestones Difficulties in motor skills can indicate underlying neurological or perceptual issues.
Socialandemotionaldevelopment hasimplications formanydomainsofchild ren’sd e v e l o p m e n t (Saarnietal.1998).Inthefirsttwoyearsoflife,muchofchildren’ssocialand e m o t i o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t c e n t e r s o n r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h c a r e g i v e r s
D u r i n g t h e s e years,childrenlearnwhethertheywillberespondedtobyothersandhow muchtheyc a n trustthosearoundthem.Learningtoexploreisafundamentaltaskofinfa ntsandtoddlers,andtheyaremoreconfidentintheirexplorationswhentheyareconfidentthatt h e i r caregiverswillbeavailablewhentheyreturnfromtheirexplorations.Inthefirsttwoye ars,childrenalsoacquireearlystrategiesfordealingwiththeirnegativefeelings.Warm,responsiver elationshipswithcaregiversareessentialforteachingchildrentot r u s t , andforh elpingthem learntodealeffectivelywithfrustration, fear,andother negativeemotions(ThompsonandRaikes2006).Healthyinfantsandtoddlerswillshowp r e f e r e n t i a l at tachmentstocaregivers,areeagertoexplorenovelobjectsandspaces,a n d enjoyiniti atingandrespondingtosocialinteractions.
During the preschool years, children's social and emotional development encompasses several key areas: social competence, behavior management, social perception, and self-regulatory abilities These skills are crucial for how well children interact with peers and teachers, follow directions, and manage their emotions, especially in stressful situations Social-emotional skills are closely linked to self-regulatory aspects of executive function While the "big five" components of personality development explain adult social-emotional growth, they are less applicable to young children Instead, concepts such as temperament and effortful control are more relevant, as they may lay the foundation for the development of stable personality traits in adulthood.
1 6 ) C h i l d r e n ’ s self-r e g u l a t o r y andsocial- emotionalskillsareincludedinmanymeasures(seeDenham,Ji,a n d Hamre[2010]foracompe ndiumofmeasuresdevelopedforuse withintheUnitedS t a t e s , includingbothparentorteacherreportandobservationalscales).Butonl ysomeo f thesemeasureshavebeenusedinlower-andmiddle- incomecountriestodate.Itisa l so recommendedthatseveralelementsofchildren’ssocial- emotionaldevelopmentbeincludedtoensureaccuratemeasurement(Denham,Bassett,andZins ser2012).
Childrenwhoarenotabletodiscernthethoughtsandfeelingsofothersaremorelikelyt o behaveaggr essivelyandexperiencepeerrejection(Denhametal.2003),andchildrenwithboth“internalizing”b ehaviorproblems,characterizedbydepressed,withdrawnb eh av io r, and“external izing”behaviorproblems,shownbyaggressive,angrybehavior,a r e morelikelytohavedifficultyin school(Rimm-
Kaufman,Pianta,andCox2000).I n d i c e s ofchildren’sbehaviorproblemshaveo ftenbeenusedinstudiesinlow-and
40 middle- incomecountries(e.g.,theStrengthsandDifficultiesQuestionnaire).Itisbothquicka n d c o s t - e f f e c t i v e t o a s k p a r e n t s t o r e s p o n d t o q u e s t i o n n a i r e s r e g a r d i n g t h e i r child ren’sbehaviorproblems,keepinginmindthatreportsofbehavioralandsocial- emotionalproblemsarelikelytobeinfluencedbyculturalnorms.Theprevalenceofb o t h internalizingandexternalizingbehaviorproblemsisquitelowinmostcontexts. Measuresofbehaviorproblemsalone,however,g e n e r a l l y yieldf e w insightsintoc h i l d r e n ’ s socialandemotionalwell- being,althoughthesemeasurescanbeusefulincases ofextremepsychologicaldistressresults(Atwine,Cantor-
Graae,andBajunirwe2 0 0 5 ; Mulatu1995).Ontheotherhand,theabsenceofbehavior problemscannotbetakenasanindicationofsocialandemotionalwell- being.Whenpossible,itisimportantt o usemeasuresthatindexofchildren’ssocialcompetencies(strengt hs),aswellastheirproblematicbehavior(difficulties).
Data
LSISI
TheLaoSocialIndicatorSurvey(LSIS)isanationallyrepresentativesamplesurvey.I t s fielddatacollectionwasconductedfromOctober2011toFebruary2012.Amongthe 18,843successfullyinterviewednationallyinthesurvey,97,421householdmembe rswerelisted.Ofthese,47,820weremaleand49,601werefemale
23monthsreceivingv a c c i n a t i o n s were:BCG-77 per cent;Polio3–49 percent;DPT-HepB–HiB3 –52percent;Measles–
55percent;allvaccinations(BCG,DPT,HepB,HiB1–3,Polio1–3,andMeasles)–34percent.
74pe r c e n t o f w o m e n r e s i d i n g i n u r b a n a r e a s w e r e p r o t e c t e d a g a i n s t t e t a n u s , wh ile only63percentofwomenresidinginruralareaswereprotected
Nearlyhalf(48percent)ofchildrenwithdiarrheareceivedORSorar eco mmen ded homefluidduringanepisodeofdiarrhea
Thevastmajorityofhouseholds(97percent)usesolidfuelsforcooking.Theus eofsolid fuels is97per centorhigher in everyprovinceofthe country, withth e exceptionofVientianeCapital,where19percentofhouseholdsusegasore lectr i ci ty forcooking
50percentofhouseholdshaveatleastoneinsecticidetreatednet(ITN)and94p er c entofhouseholdshaveatleastonemosquitonet
12percentofchildren underfive yearsofage wereleftinthecareofotherc hildrenwhoareunder10yearsofage
24),theliteracyishighestintheCentralr e g i o n at76percentamongyoungwomenan d79percentamongyoungmen,a n d lowestintheSouthat55percentamongwomenan d70percentamongmen
T h e completionrateamongboys(101percent)ishigherthanthatofgirls(88pe rc e n t )
TheGenderParityIndex(GPI)forbothprimaryandsecondary schoolsiscloset o 1.00,indicatingnodifferenceintheattendanceofgirlsandboy satprimaryan d secondaryschools
49readanewspaperatleastonceaweek.Onei n threewomen listensto the radioatleastoncea week, while asmanyasthreein fourwomenwatchtelevisionatleastonceaweek
24haveeverusedtheInternet,while8percentusedth e I n t e r n e t w i t h i n t h e l a s t yea r.Only6 p e r c e n t o f youngw o m e n u s e d t h e I n t e r n e t onceaweekormoredurin gthelastmonth
LSISII
TheLaoSocialIndicatorSurvey(LSIS)IIprovidesasetofsinglenationalfigureons o c i a l indicators.ItcombinestheMultipleIndicatorClusterSurvey(MICS)andt heDemo gr ap hic a n d H e a l t h S u r v e y mo du les t o maximizeg o v e r n m e n t r e s o u r c e s f o r a n a t i o n a l l y representativesamplesurvey.LSISIIfollowsthefirstLSISISurvey whichw a s c a r r i e d o u t i n 2 0 1 1 -
1 2 j o i n t l y byt h e M i n i s t r y o f H e a l t h ( M o H ) a n d t h e L a o S t a t i s t i c s Burea u(LSB)oftheMinistryofPlanningandInvestmentincollaborationw i t h o t h e r l i n e m i n i s t r i e s T h e L S I S I p r o v i d e d b a s e l i n e dataf o r t h e 7 t h N a t i o n a l Socio economicDevelopmentPlan(NSEDP)andtheMillenniumDevelopmentGoals
Ofthe23,299householdsselectedforthesample,22,443werefoundtobeoccupied.O f th ese, 22, 287were succes sf ul ly interviewedforahouseholdresponserateof 9 9p er c e n t
49years)wereidentified.Ofth ese, 2 5 , 3 0 5 w e r e s u c c e s s f u l l y interviewed, yie ldinga r e s p o n s e r a t e o f 9 7 p e r c e n t w i t h i n theinterviewedhouseholds.
Thesurveyalsosampledmen(age15-49),butrequiredonlyasubsample.Allmen(age1 5 -
Therew e r e 1 1 , 8 1 2 c h i l d r e n u n d e r a g e f i v e l i s t e d i n t h e h o u s e h o l d q u e s t i o n n a i r e s Questionnaireswerecompletedfor11,720ofthesechildren,which correspondstoaresponserateof99percentwithininterviewedhouseholds.
1 7 years)l i s t e d i n t h e h o u s e h o l d q u e s t i o n n a i r e s Ofthese,15,494children(5- 17years)wereselected,andquestionnaireswer ecompletedfor15,435whichcorrespondtoarespo nserateof 99.6percentwithintheinterviewedhouseholds.
Int h i s r e s e a r c h , t h e c o m b i n a t i o n t w o s e t s o f t h e d a t a o n E a r l y C h i l d h o o d DevelopmentfromLSISIandLSISIIareusedtomakethelargersample s.Childrena t agebetween2-4yearsarethemaintargets,detailastablebelow:
Datadescription
InthisstudydatasetisobtainedfromtheMICS,whicharethecollectedsetofdatafromM I C S 5andMI CS6.MICS5isthesurveycompletedintheyear2011-
5years,inthecollection oftwotimesofsurveysis8.269children,4.080arefemalechild.
Earlychildhooddevelopment:inthesample,thereare8.269observations,whilethoseareproperlydevelo pedare7.082people,orabout85,65%,thisshowsthatinentireviewmostofLaochildrenareproperlydeve loped.
Domain1:LiteracyandNumeracy:outof8.268children,thereareonly1.823childrena r e properlyd eveloped,whileanother77,95%arepoorlydeveloped.
Domain2:Physical:almostallchildrenhaveproperphysicaldevelopment,only1%f o u n d tobepoorlydeveloped.
Domain3:approachestolearning:thereareover7000childrenareproperlydeveloped,only5%arefound tobepoorlydeveloped.
Schoolyearofmotherschool:thehighestlevelofschoolis22years,whilethelowestis noilliterac y mother.Thetotalnumberofmothersinthesampleis5,693persons,ina v e r a g e Laomotherg ivebirthto1.45children.Andmostofthemothersareprimaryschoolgraduatewhichisacco untedfor1,491persons.
Emperialresult
Maternaleducationandearlychildhood development
Asshownintable3.2inwhichtheresultofLogitestimationindicatesthatmaternale d u c a t i o n hasapositiveimpactthelikelinessoftheirchild’sdevelopmentoutcomes. And accordingtotable3.3.themarginaleffect,thenshowstheaverageprobabilitythateveryonea dditionalyearofe d u c a t i o n of themotherr e s u l t s tot h e possibilitythatherc h i l d hasproperlydevelopedby0.4%point.
Surprisingly,whenestimateindividualdomain,theresultofamarginaleducationeffecth a s stronglys ignificantonlyfordomain1, literacyandnumeracydevelopment,thestatisticala nalysisresultshowsthatschoolyearofthemotherincreasesbyonemoreyear,thechanceth atchildrengetbettercognitiveskillisapproximately8%point.Othert h a n domain1,maternaleducatio nisnotstatisticallysignificanteffectthelikelihoodofh a v i n g p r o p e r l y d e v e l o p e d p a r t i c u l a r l y int h e physical,a p p r o a c h e s t o learninga n d social-emotionalofchildren.
Womenaccesstoinformationandearlychildhooddevelopment
WiththeentireECD,thelogitresultfoundthattheaccesstoinformationofthewomena p p e a r s to beapositive impactonthechild’s developmental status wi th acceptable statisti calsignificantataPvaluelessthan10%.Marginaleffectestimationshowsthatthosemothersw h o e v e r u s e d t h e I n t e r n e t , t h e c h a n c e t h a t h e r c h i l d h a s p r o p e r l y d e v e l o p e d isbyapproximately2,3%comparedtothosemothersthathaveneverusedtheI nternet.
Whenestimatingeachdomainindependently,womenaccesstoinformationfoundtoh a v e apositiveeffectonachild’sdevelopment,15%chanceofachild’sliteracyandn u m e r a c y de ve lo pme nt increaseasmothersh a v e e v e r u s e d t h e I n t e r n e t A n d 1 , 4
RegionalEffect
Byc o m p a r i n g toT h e N o r t h e r n r e g i o n s , c e n t r a l r e g i o n s i n t h i s studyf o u n d t o b e statisticallysignificantaffectthelikelinessofpoorerdeveloped.ECDofchil drenin.
Theaveragemarginaleffectfortheregionalimplicatethatcomparabletochildfromc e n t r a l regionsarelesslikelytohaveproperdevelopedwhilethosearefromsouthernr e g i o n s do.Thisreflectsthefactsthatthehealthfacilityindifferenceregionmightnotr e l a t e tothepr obabilityofthechildhealthoutcomes.Andthismightalsomeansthatallt h e regionsofLaoshave basichealthfacilitiesthatmeettheneedthebasicneedformotherandchild’sdevelopm ent.
WealthQuintileIndex
Surprisingly,Wealthquintileindexinthisresearchfoundtohavenostatisticals i g n i f i c a n t a f f e c t t h e l i k e l i h o o d o f e a r l y c h i l d h o o d d e v e l o p m e n t H o w e v e r , w i t h l i t e r a c y andnumeracy,there’sadifferentiationamongdifferentwealthquintilefa mily,t h o s e a r e w e a l t h i e r a r e m o r e l i k e l y t o h a v e p r o p e r d e v e l o p e d i n ter mso f literacy,numeracy.Whileothertworemainingdomainsfoundtohavenodifferences.
Wealthquintileindexinthis caserepresentsthe wealthofthefamily,whenthere’snostatisticalsignificantrelatedtochild’soutcomesfordiffe rentQuintiles,thismightduet o thefactthatLaofamilywhoarericharenotallofthemeducat ed,theysilllookatshortrunratherthaninlongrunwhichreturntoeducationstillnotclear,inotherword s,inreality,notalltherichfamilyinvestforchildrenineducation,
Ethnicityeffect
BothestimationresultsforECDandeachindividualdomainofdevelopment,differentg r o u p o f h o u s e h o l d e t h n i c i t y h a v e n o s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t f r o m o n e a n o t h e r Inotherwords,AmongLaoLum,LaoTheungandLaoSung,thedevelop mentofthemarenotdifferentthisresultantsupporttheideathatnodiscriminationam onget hni city inLaos.
Cleanwaterusingandtoiletusing
BothE C D a n d d e c o m p o s e d d o m a i n ’ s e s t i m a t i o n r e s u l t s h o w t h a t hou seholdch ar acter istics arefoundtohavenosignificantleveleffectonthelikelihoodofwhethert hechildrenareproperly developed.Theresultissimilartotheresearchimplementedi n VietnambyThu,whichfoun dthattheuseoftoiletarefoundtohavenosignificante f f e c t onachild’shealth.
HouseholdMemberandnumberofchildrenunder5
InECDestimation,thenumberofhouseholdmembersfoundtohaveanegativeimpacto n thelikel ihoodofchilddevelopment,astheamountoffamilymemberincreaseit’smorelikelythat childbecomepoorlydeveloped.It’sapproximately0.4%ofchancet h a t c h i l d r e n l i k e l y tobecomep o o r d e v e l o p e d a s t h e f a m i l y memberi n c r e a s e by1p e r s o n Ad ditionally, th e familywhomhaving ch il dr en u n d e r five isin cre asi ng it’s mor elikelythatthehaveabetterchancetobeproperlydeveloped.
Ageofmother
Ageofmotherissurprisinglyappearingtohaveapositiveeffectontheprobabilitythatchildrenbeco meproperlydeveloped,thisalsoreflectsthatinLaosmotherposiblythosmotherthatareolder havemoreexperiencesandtakingcarebetterthenthosewho areyounger.
Child’sgender
Comparedt o f e m a l e c h i l d r e n , m a l e c h i l d r e n a r e likelytoh a v e morec h a n c e s t o b e p o o r l y developed,thiscanbeconsiderthechild’sownbiologycharacteristico fLaoc h i l d r e n thatfemalechildrenarebornhealthierthanmalechildren.
Conclusions
Thispaperusesdataofthe2012and2017MICSSurveytoexaminetherelationshipb e t w e e n maternaleducation,householdcharacteristicsofthehealthofchildren,e sp e ci a l l y howthelevelofmaternaleducationimpactschildhealthinthewholevieww h i c h canbe measuredthroughECDscoreratherthanjustphysicalhealth,andthisinparticularcasesofL aochildren.TheanalysisresultindicatesthatmaternaleducationhasstrongeffectsonEC Dwhichrepresentforchildhealth.Morespecifically;Second,Wealthquintileindexoftheho useholdfoundtohavenosignificantrelatedtochildh e a l t h Third,ourresultsin dicateddifferentregionsarenotsignificantimpactonthec h i l d healthoutcomes.Fi nally,theresultsgenerallysupporttheargumentthatincreasingmaternaleducationlev eltypicallyaffectschilddevelopmentbyimprovingt h e knowledgeofchildcare-giving.
In conclusion, the results find outhighermaternaledu c at io n increasestheprobabilities ofgiving birthinhospi tal,t h e educated meansbetterl i v i n g e n v i r o n m e n t , moreh o u s e h o l d i n c o m e t h a t l e a d s tob e t t e r c h a n c e s thatc h i l d r e n areproperlydeveloped.
TheE C D statusa n a l y s i s iso b j e c t i v e l y m e a s u r e d , r e d u c i n g p o s s i b l e m i s s c l a s s i f i e d , w h i l e t h e r e anumberofpapersexaminedthechildhealththrough eithertheweightofa g e o r t h e he i g h t f o r a g e o f c h i l d r e n a s t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f h e a l t h I f i n d thatt h e maternaleducationhasacloserelationtochilddevelopment.F urthermore,thereisad i f f e r e n t m e t h o d o l o g y t o a n a l y zet h e i n f l u e n c e o f m o t h e r ’ se d u c a t i o n o n a c h i l d ’ s h e a l t h
T h e lackofpapersdeterminedtheroleofmaternaleducationinchildhealthinthecaseofLao PDR,sothatthisstudycontributestointerprettheempiricalevidenceofrelationshipamon gmaternaleducation,women’saccesstoinformationandchildd e v e l o p m e n t levelinLaoPDR.
Despitethelimitationofthesampledata,however,therichnessofinformationdatathatt hi s studypr ovidesillustratedthecomplexrelationshipsbetweenmicrosystemfactors,socioeconomicfact orsandphysicalcharacteristicsandtheireffectsonthehealthofc h i l d r e n
Currentfindingssupportanecologicalandintegrativeapproachforexaminingfactorst h a t mightpredictthematernaleducationandsocioeconomicfactorofLaochildren.Con sistentwiththeecologicaltheoreticalframework(Bronfenbrenner,1986),factorsa t the microsystemlevel(maternaleducation)emergedassignificantpredictorsofchildh e a l t h inthecurr entsample ofMIC S Morespecifically,higher maternal educationp r edi ct ed thebetterchanceofbeingproperlydevelopedThus,currentfindingssuggestthatmaternalfactor satthemicrosystemlevelmayhaveadirectinfluenceonchildren’sh e a l t h outcomes.
Policyimplications
Increasing women's educational levels significantly enhances their labor market participation, leading to better employment opportunities and higher incomes Additionally, educated women tend to gain more respect and appreciation within society and their families Research indicates that investments in women's education yield substantial economic returns, often exceeding similar investments in men (Schultz, 2002) However, many women in Laos still face limited decision-making rights compared to their husbands Education empowers women to assert their preferences more effectively Therefore, the government should consider revising the current one-child family planning policy and implementing programs that promote gender equality while shifting parental attitudes that favor sons over daughters.
Toimprovechildhealthstatusandearlychildhooddevelopment,healthandnutritioni n f o r m a t i o n shouldbeincludedintheschoolcurriculumaswellasthemassmediatoen able moreopportunityforwomentogetaccesstoinformationeasierw i t h provisiono fbasicknowl edgeonhowtotakecaretheirchildrenwiththebestpossibleways.
Limitationofthestudy 53 REFERENCESAPPENDI
Furtherresearchmightbeabetterexplorationoftheinfluenceofeducationallevelalongd i f f e r e n t mat ernalschoolingmarginsindevelopingcountries,whichmayimprovechildh e a l t h t o a g r e a t e r e x t e n t T h e r e s u l t s a r e c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e f i n d i n g s o f a r e l a t e d researchfo rapaperforMorocco asexplored by(Glewwe, 1999), moreresearchis neededforvarioussettings,especiallydevelopingcountries,tounderstandtheexten tthattheresultscanbegeneralized.
Second,t h e sampleint h i s s t u d y i s t a k e n f r o m s p e c i f i c a l l y L a o PDR,m a i n l y t h e educationall e v e l o f themother,measuredbys c h o o l i n g yeara n d t h e c h i l d ’ sd e v e l o p m e n t index.Itwouldbebetteriffurtherresearchcanbedonetobecovering mostofdevelopingcountryastomakeitpresentableforwiderpolicy’smakinginviewo f A S E A N
N a t i o n s A n o t h e r t h i n g i s t h a t , t h i s studyused s e c o n d a r y dat a a n a l y s i s , whi ch limitedtheconceptsthatwereavailabletoexamine,therebyl i m i t i n g theg e n e r a l i z a b i l i t y oftheresults.
Otherl i m i t a t i o n s t o t h i s r e s e a r c h i s t h a t t h e v a r i a b l e f o r t h a t r e p r e s e n t s t h e womenac ce ss t o i n f o r m a t i o n i s n o t r e a l l y r e f l e c t t h e a c c e s s t o p a r t i c u l a r i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t prov id ehealthknowledge likehowtotakecareofchildrenindifferentstagesof lives,themeasurementandvariablerepresenttheaccessinformationneedmoredet ailandb e t t e r designed.
Thed i s s e r t a t i o n s t i l l h a s t h e l i m i t a t ioni n i n t e r p r e t i n g ’ sr e s u l t s A l t h o u g h t h e studyr e v e a l s s i g n i f i c a n t predictors ofmaternaleducation andearlychildhooddevelopment,n o causaldirectionscanbeestablishedbythisstudy. Futureresearchshouldexplorebeyondtheempiricalfindingsofthisstudy,thereasonoftho seinfluencesandlookinga t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n maternale d u c a t i o n a n d c h i l d d e v e l o p m e n t u s i n g longitudinaldata.
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