May 2023
Abstract
Building on prior evidence that mothers often have a stronger preference for spending on children than fathers do, we use a randomized experiment to evaluate the impacts of a communication training program for mothers on child health in Uganda. The hypothesis is that the training will enable women to better convey their knowledge and preference to their husbands and, thereby, boost investments in children’s health. We find that the program increases spousal discussion about the family’s health, nutrition, and finances. It also increases women’s and children’s intake of animal-sourced foods as well as household spending on these foods. However, this did not impact households’ adoption of health-promoting behaviors or most child anthropometric measures in the short run.