Does Women's Education Affect Children's Outcomes? Evidence from Indonesia's School Construction Program in the 1970s

Women's education has been championed by many because its widespread impact on measures of development. This study examines the impact of women's education in marriage, fertility, and children's outcomes. Taking advantage of Indonesia's massive school construction in the 1970s, I estimate the long-term returns to women's education using the 2SLS technique and use the results of difference-in-difference estimation of the program's effect on educational attainment as the instrumental variable. I found that women with more schooling marry later in life, but do not necessarily have fewer children. Women's education also significantly reduces child mortality, both for sons and daughters. Finally, women's education positively impacts their children's schooling, especially the ones who were most strongly exposed to the school construction program.