The effect of maternal education on child health: Some evidence from Ghana

Ghana has witnessed marked improvement in child health over the past three decades, albeit the progress has been slow and unevenly distributed across the country. The country's under-five mortality rate, though better than the average for sub-Saharan Africa, lags behind that of some low and middle-income countries in the sub-region. The situation is not different from the incidence of diseases such as acute respiratory infection (ARI), diarrhoeal diseases and fever among children in Ghana. While a number of studies have been conducted to investigate the factors that influence child health, there is limited evidence regarding the effect of maternal education on child health in Ghana. This paper seeks to examine the effect of maternal education on under-five morbidity particularly the incidence of ARI, diarrhoea and fever in Ghana. Using the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) and employing logistic regression, the paper shows that higher maternal education significantly and consistently reduces the incidence of diarrhoea, ARI and fever among children aged under-five in Ghana. The paper recommends the integration of maternal education in maternal and child health policies in Ghana.