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Economic Consequences Of Maternal Illness In Rural Bangladesh

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  • Timothy Powell‐Jackson
  • Mohammad Enamul Hoque

Abstract

We use panel data on household consumption combined with information taken from the medical records of women who gave birth in health facilities to explore the economic consequences of maternal ill health, in the context of a rural population in Bangladesh. The findings suggest that there is a large reduction in household resources associated with maternal illness, driven almost entirely by spending on health care. In spite of this loss of resources, we find that households are able to fully insure consumption against maternal ill health, although confidence intervals are unable to rule out a small effect. Households in our study area are shown to have good access to informal credit (whether it be from local money lenders or family relatives), and this appears critical in helping to smooth consumption in response to these health shocks, at least in the short term. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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  • Timothy Powell‐Jackson & Mohammad Enamul Hoque, 2012. "Economic Consequences Of Maternal Illness In Rural Bangladesh," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(7), pages 796-810, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:21:y:2012:i:7:p:796-810
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.1749
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    Cited by:

    1. Kristine Husøy Onarheim & Johanne Helene Iversen & David E Bloom, 2016. "Economic Benefits of Investing in Women’s Health: A Systematic Review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-23, March.
    2. Peter Binyaruka & Josephine Borghi, 2022. "An equity analysis on the household costs of accessing and utilising maternal and child health care services in Tanzania," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.

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