This study examines the impact of mandatory maternal education on child health in Turkey, where a non-trivial fraction of families restricted their daughters’ schooling due to social and cultural barriers. The analysis employs two large data sets and exploits a quasi-experiment involving an education reform that increased compulsory schooling. Results show that an increase in mother's schooling improves child health at birth (as measured by factors such as low birth weight and premature birth) and lowers child mortality. The current study on the intergenerational benefits of compulsory schooling arguably provides the strongest evidence supporting the argument that mandatory female education has substantial nonpecuniary benefits in terms of the health of the offspring in societies where female education is stigmatized. The implications of this research extend beyond girls’ schooling and suggest that compulsory human capital investments in children can correct market failures when families underinvest in their children because of social or cultural barriers.

中文翻译：

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女孩的义务教育改善了她们孩子的健康：来自土耳其 1997 年教育改革的证据

本研究考察了土耳其强制性孕产妇教育对儿童健康的影响，由于社会和文化障碍，有相当一部分家庭限制了女儿的学业。该分析使用了两个大型数据集，并利用了一项准实验，该准实验涉及增加义务教育的教育改革。结果表明，母亲受教育程度的提高可以改善出生时的儿童健康（通过低出生体重和早产等因素来衡量）并降低儿童死亡率。目前关于义务教育的代际利益的研究可以说提供了最有力的证据来支持这样一种论点，即在女性教育被污名化的社会中，女性义务教育在后代的健康方面具有实质性的非金钱利益。