(Il)literacyBy Lory Hough How a mother’s literacy skills, even
at a basic level, translate into healthier kids. It’s an idea
that’s been around for a long time: The more formal schooling a
mother gets, the better off her children’s health will be.
Educated women get prenatal care, boil their water, and take
sick kids to the doctors. Illness decreases. Survival increases.
Study after study in public health, particularly in the
developing world, has shown this to be absolutely true. And yet,
surprisingly, for many years, no one ever quite figured out why
or how this happened. There were theories, of course. Education
empowers women, who still serve as the primary caretakers for
children. It liberates them from traditional bonds like family
influence and old wives’ tales. It improves status and access.
However, few researchers actually gave much credit to the
learning itself, assuming many schools in developing countries
were of such low quality that they couldn’t possibly be teaching
useful skills to women. Eve