Land Tenure and Children's Health: Evidence from China

Does land tenure affect children’s health? This study answers this question using a quasi-experiment – the 2003 Land Contract Law in China, which reduces the probability of land adjustments in villages. As a consequence, children born and wives married after the last land adjustment prior to the law's enactment were rendered less likely to secure land tenure. The study finds that children are 9 percent more likely to be obese if they were denied land tenure, and 7 percent more likely if their mothers were denied land tenure. These effects are larger for boys than girls. Thus, the ban on land adjustments threatened children’s health by denying them and their mothers land rights. This project advises land reforms to recognize women's and children’s land rights, in order to enhance their well-being and intrahousehold bargaining power.HIGHLIGHTSIn China, children are 9 percent more likely to be obese when denied land tenure.Children are 7 percent more likely to be obese when their mothers are denied land tenure.The denial of land tenure affects boys’ health more than girls’.