While the importance of some laws and policies to equal opportunities is clear, for other areas, there are real debates among individuals who share goals about whether a policy is likely to help or hurt. These are testable questions. While it’s not feasible or ethical to conduct randomized control trials on many national policies, we can take advantage of natural experiments—leveraging existing household survey data with our longitudinal policy data—to compare changes in outcomes in countries that adopted new national policies to changes in outcomes in similar countries that didn’t, while controlling for other confounding factors. This application of advanced statistical techniques to policy data yields the most rigorous, causal evidence available about whether policies are working, under what conditions, and for whom.
With partners, Equal Futures and WORLD researchers have been at the forefront of these techniques to provide evidence-based answers about what benefits policymakers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) might expect to see when they pass a policy. Over the past decade, findings from these studies have included:
Paid parental leave: Click to learn more.
- Paid parental leave and infant mortality: Four million children die each year before their first birthday. Using data on 274,716 live births in 20 countries from 2000 to 2008, we found that each additional month of paid maternity leave contributed to 7.9 fewer infant deaths per 1,000 live births, a 13% relative reduction. [Research brief] Three additional rigorous studies revealed some of the mechanisms behind this change, finding that longer paid parental leave led to higher rates of breastfeeding [Research brief], lower rates of bloody diarrhea [Research brief], and higher take-up of life-saving vaccines [Research brief].
- Paid parental leave and women’s decision-making power: Decision making about individuals’ own lives is a key indicator of autonomy. Using data on 101,982 married couples from 31 countries from 2000 to 2016, each additional month of paid maternity leave increased the odds that women and their partners/spouses reported that women had more decision-making power by 40% and 66%, respectively. [Research brief]
- Paid parental leave and norms around women’s economic opportunities: Adequate take-up of parental leave by men matters to gender equality at home and at work. Using data on 66,777 individuals from 9 countries from 1990 to 2016, we found that changes to parental leave policies that incentivize or encourage fathers to take time off are associated with both women and men being 27% more likely to disagree with the statement that “when jobs are scarce, men should have more right to a job than women.” [Research brief]
Tuition-free primary and secondary education: Click to learn more.
- Tuition-free education and infant mortality: Greater maternal education has long been associated with improvements in child health—yet little rigorous research measured how specific approaches to improving girls’ education access affected their and their children’s wellbeing. Using data on 36,030 births from 23 countries from 2003 to 2011, when girls have access to tuition-free primary education in childhood, as mothers their children have a 19% relative reduction in infant mortality. [Research brief].
- Tuition-free education and child marriage: School opens a different life pathway from early marriage. Using data on 135,097 women from 5 countries from 1986 to 2016, we found that the abolition of secondary-level tuition fees reduced the probability of marriage before age 15 by 4.1 percentage points and marriage before age 18 by 5.5 percentage points. [Research brief].
- Tuition-free education and family planning: 164 million women report an unmet need for modern contraceptives. Using data on 323,047 women from 17 countries from 2000 to 2016, women who had access during their childhood to tuition-free primary school had a 47% greater likelihood of meeting their family planning needs as adults and a 152% greater likelihood of relying on modem methods when using contraception, relative to women without similar access. [Research brief].
- Tuition-free education and early childbearing: Early childbearing can have major health consequences. Using data on 135,097 women from 5 countries from 1986 to 2016, the abolition of secondary-level tuition fees reduced the probability of childbearing before age 18 by 8.6 percentage points. Research brief].
- Tuition-free education and antenatal care: Antenatal care can make a critical difference for reducing maternal and infant mortality. Using data on 67,738 pregnant women from 9 countries born between 1984 and 2004, exposure to tuition-free primary and lower secondary in childhood led to improvements in the number of antenatal care (ANC) visits, increasing the share of women meeting the WHO recommendation of at least four ANC visited by 6 – 14%. [Research brief].
- Tuition-free education and nutrition during early childhood: One in five deaths of children under age 5 are a result of severe wasting. Using data on 40,752 children under age 3 from 9 countries from 2000 to 2020, introducing free secondary education led to an 18% relative decrease in wasting among children of mothers who had access during their childhoods to free primary and secondary education.Research brief].
Inclusive education laws and primary school attendance among children with disabilities Click to learn more.
Children with disabilities are the least likely children to attend school in low- and middle- income countries. Using data on children with disabilities aged 5-9 from 3 countries from 2004 to 2016, we found that children in Uganda with visual, hearing, and physical disabilities, who began school at a time when inclusive education was guaranteed, were 56% more likely to go to school than children with disabilities in comparator countries in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as more likely than children with disabilities in Uganda who reached school age prior to the passage of the legislation.[Research brief].
Laws that combat intimate partner violence: Click to learn more.
- Child marriage laws and attitudes towards and exposure to intimate partner violence: Girls who are married as children commonly experience violence in their relationships. Using data on 532,255 women from 19 countries from 2001 to 2016, stronger national protections against child marriage led to improved attitudes towards violence and reduced violence against women. In countries that strengthened their laws, women were 35% less likely to experience physical or sexual intimate partner violence.[Research brief].
- Tuition-free secondary education and attitudes towards intimate partner violence: Domestic violence is both a human rights violation and a public health crisis: the World Health Organization reports that 245 million women are subject to physical and/or sexual IPV each year. Using data on 683,151 women from 29 countries from 2000 to 2019, the probability that IPV was perceived as justified under at least one circumstance declined by an additional 5 percentage points, on average, in countries that adopted tuition-free policy up to the secondary level relative to those that adopted only up to the primary level.[Research brief].
- Domestic violence laws and household decision-making power: Making decisions about one’s own health care is foundational to both health and autonomy. Using data on 582,811 women from 23 countries from 2000 to 2020, domestic violence (DV) laws increased women’s decision-making in healthcare by 17%, while also improving autonomy in decision-making about finances (by 6%) and social mobility (by 11%).[Research brief].
- Domestic violence laws and nutrition during early childhood: IPV has vast intergenerational consequences. Using data on 146,136 children under age 2 from 23 countries from 2000 to 2020, we found that, among children aged 0–23 months, DV laws reduced the probability of wasting—one of the most severe forms of malnutrition—by 5% points, a 31% reduction from the mean. Using data on 181,838 children aged 24 – 59 months, DV laws also reduced wasting among older children by 4% points, a 39% reduction from the mean.[Research brief].
