Women’s Land Ownership and Household Decisions: Implications for Child Health in Rural India

Abstract

Women in India undertake around 80% of farm work. They are mostly engaged in farm work that is labour intensive and non-mechanized. In rural landowning households, only 16% of women own land (Agarwal et al., Which women own land in India? Between divergent data sets, measures and laws (GDI Working Paper 2020-043). Manchester: The University of Manchester, 2020). The absence of land ownership affects the economic empowerment of women in agriculture. An increase in women's access to economic resources results in higher investment in human capital. Empowerment of women through land and ownership rights can improve children's nutritional status, especially for children under-5. This study aims at understanding the effects of women's land ownership rights on women's empowerment and maternal and child health outcomes in rural India using NFHS-4 data. The results demonstrate a positive relationship between women's land ownership and women's autonomy. It is shown that joint ownership of land for women is insufficient to improve empowerment, and it is only in the case of sole ownership that women's autonomy and decision-making powers improve. A direct positive relationship between women's land ownership and women's health outcome was found. However, no direct association between women's land ownership and children's nutritional status measured by stunting and underweight was observed.