The Influence of Women Empowerment on Under-Five Mortality in Ethiopia

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Date

2019-06

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Addis Ababa University

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to investigate the influence of women empowerment on underfive mortality in Ethiopia for children born five years preceding 2016. The EDHS 2016 survey conducted by central statistical agency was the source of data for analysis. This study adopted the Mosley and Chen (1984) approach to analyze the effect of women’s empowerment on underfive mortality. Births that occurred in the five years preceding EDHS 2016 survey were analyzed in relation to the survival of the child and women empowerment dimensions such as women’s decision making, women’s self-esteem and women’s freedom of mobility. Other independent variables namely; environmental, socio-economics, bio-demographic and healthcare were used as control variables. Binary logistic analyses were used to determine how each of the components of women’s empowerment affects under-five mortality after controlling for the effects of other factors. The study reveals that under-five mortality was significantly associated with the two women’s empowerment dimensions namely; women’s decision making index and women’s self-esteem index. Women’s decision making power is inversely related to under-five deaths while women’s self-esteem has direct positive association with under-five deaths.

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Keywords

Under-five mortality, women‘s empowerment, women‘s decision making, women‘s self-esteem, women‘s freedom of mobility

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