The effects of childhood immunization programs on health and education: micro-evidence from India

Abstract

Exploiting cohort and spatial variation in exposure to India’s Universal Immunization Program (UIP), I estimate the program’s effects on child mortality and educational attainment. The results show that UIP exposure reduced infant mortality by 0.4 percentage points and under-five mortality by 0.5 percentage points. While the program clearly improved child survival, its effects on educational outcomes were mixed, reflecting changes in the composition of surviving children. UIP exposure reduced primary school completion but increased secondary school completion. The negative effect at lower levels of schooling may reflect lower average health among marginal surviving children or a quantity–quality trade-off arising from unanticipated improvements in child survival. In contrast, the positive effect on secondary schooling may reflect improved health and human capital among children further from the margin of survival.