WORLD Policy Analysis Center

Impact Studies by Policy Area

Our policy impact studies explore the relationship between a wide range of national policies and individual and household outcomes. We have developed particularly in-depth analyses in five policy areas:

Tuition-free secondary education

Our studies in this area have helped to expand the evidence base on the impact of tuition-free secondary education on a range of outcomes for children and adults:

The intergenerational effect of tuition-free lower-secondary education on children’s nutritional outcomes in Africa.
o Found that availability of tuition-free lower-secondary for mothers leads to reduced wasting for their children.
Reducing child marriage in sub-Saharan Africa: Evaluating the joint potential of protective marriage and education policies
o Found that introducing both protective child marriage laws and tuition-free secondary education lowers the risk of early marriage and early childbirth
Do tuition-free lower secondary education policies matter for antenatal care among women in sub-saharan African countries?
- Found that introducing tuition-free secondary education leads to increased number of ANC visits
Impact of Tuition-Free Education Policy on Child Marriage and Early Childbearing: Does Secondary Matter More?
o Found that introducing tuition-free secondary education leads to larger reductions in child marriage than tuition-free primary education
Tuition-free secondary education and women’s attitudes toward intimate partner violence: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa
o Found that introducing tuition-free secondary policy reduces the probability of IPV being perceived as justified.

Tuition-free primary education

Our studies in this area have helped to expand the evidence base on the impact of tuition-free primary education on a range of outcomes for children and adults:

Effects of tuition-free primary education on women’s access to family planning and on health decision-making: A cross-national study
- Findings include improvements in women’s reproductive health, including a greater likelihood of:
  - married or in-union women meeting their family planning needs
  - women relying on modern contraceptive methods when using contraception
  - women having a say in their own health-related decisions and their partners’ health-related decisions
The impact of eliminating primary school tuition fees on child marriage in sub-Saharan Africa: A quasi-experimental evaluation of policy changes in 8 countries
- Found that eliminating tuition fees leads to lower rates of child marriage
Improving health with programmatic, legal, and policy approaches to reduce gender inequality and change restrictive gender norms
- Found that introducing tuition-free primary education leads to improved gender equality in household decision-making

Legislated paid maternity leave

Our studies have found that legislated paid maternity leave can serve as a powerful tool to promote children’s health by impacting childhood vaccination rates, infant mortality and breastfeeding practices:

Association of increased duration of legislated paid maternity leave with childhood diarrhoea prevalence in low-income and middle-income countries: difference-in-differences analysis.
o Found that increasing the duration of paid maternity leave leads to decreased rate of childhood diarrhoea
Paid maternity leave and childhood vaccination uptake: Longitudinal evidence from low-and-middle-income countries
- Found a significant positive impact on infant vaccination rates for vaccines provided in clinics during infancy
Increased duration of paid maternity leave lowers infant mortality in low- and middle-income countries: A quasi-experimental study
- Found that longer legislated paid maternity leaves for mothers reduces infant mortality
Does extending the duration of legislated paid maternity leave improve breastfeeding practices? Evidence from 38 low-income and middle-income countries
- Found that more moms are able to exclusively breastfeed and are able to breastfeed for a longer duration
- Also found a lower prevalence of childhood diarrhea

Domestic violence
Our studies examined what works at a national scale to address IPV and its impact on health and wellbeing:

Impact of laws prohibiting domestic violence on wasting in early childhood
o Found that passing a domestic violence law leads to reduction in wasting among children under age 2

Minimum Wage

We have also conducted studies that examine the impact of raising the minimum wage on important outcomes for children and adults alike:

The association of minimum wage change on child nutritional status in LMICs: A quasi-experimental multi-country study
- Found that an increase in the minimum wage has been associated with reduced stunting and failure in young children
Economic policy and the double burden of malnutrition: cross-national longitudinal analysis of minimum wage and women’s underweight and obesity
- Found that higher minimum wages were associated with reduced underweight in women