Crises and Child Health Outcomes

Crises and Child Health Outcomes, The Impacts of Economic and Drought/smoke Crises on Infant Mortality and Birthweight in Indonesia. Pungpond Rukumnuaykit, Michigan State University, 2003.

This paper examines the impacts of the recent Asian financial crisis on infant mortality and birthweight in Indonesia. There have been a number of economic and policy studies focusing on impacts of economic crises on finance and production.

Although some studies provide evidence of negative impacts of economic crises on real outcomes, little is known about the impact of economic crises on child health outcomes such as changes in nutrition, child health, and mortality. Often, the association between financial and production disturbances and these outcomes are assumed (e.g. an adverse shock to production is thought to be associated with worse child health outcomes.). This paper utilizes data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS) to examine impacts of the crises on child health outcomes directly. Specifically, we study the impacts of the crises on birthweight and infant mortality.