Childhood Vaccinations and Adult Schooling Attainment: Long-Term Evidence from India’s Universal Immunisation Programme

Posted: 9 May 2019

See all articles by Arindam Nandi

Arindam Nandi

The Population Council; One Health Trust

Santosh Kumar

University of Notre Dame; IZA Institute of Labor Economics ; Global Labor Organization

Anita Shet

Johns Hopkins University - International Vaccine Access Center

David E. Bloom

Harvard University - T.H. Chan School of Public Health; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Ramanan Laxminarayan

One Health Trust; Princeton University

Date Written: April 26, 2019

Abstract

Routine childhood vaccines are among the most cost-effective life-saving interventions. In addition, vaccines could reduce stunting and thereby improve health and other outcomes in later life. However, evidence on such long-term benefits remain inadequate. In this study, we examined the associations between India’s routine childhood vaccination program – known as the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) – and schooling attainment among adults. We obtained district-level data on the rollout of the UIP in 1985-1990 and matched those with data from the National Family Health Survey of India, 2015-2016. Adults who were born in the five years before and after the rollout period (1980-1995) and always lived in the same location were included in the analysis (n=109,908). We employed household, village or city ward, district, and state fixed-effects linear regression models, which incorporated a wide range of socioeconomic and demographic indicators and community-level infrastructure, amenities, and access to healthcare. We compared schooling attainment in years of individuals who were born when or after the UIP was implemented in their districts (intervention group) with those who were born before the UIP (control group). In household fixed-effects analysis, intervention group adults attained 0.18 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.02, 0.33; p<0.05) more schooling grades as compared with control group adults from the same household. In village or city ward, district, and state fixed-effects analysis, intervention group adults attained 0.23 (95% CI: 0.13, 0.32; p<0.001), 0.29 (95% CI: 0.19, 0.38; p<0.001), and 0.25 (95% CI: 0.1, 0.39; p<0.01) additional schooling grades respectively than the control group. In subgroup analyses, positive associations between the UIP and schooling grades were observed among women and among rural, urban, and richer households.

Suggested Citation

Nandi, Arindam and Kumar, Santosh and Shet, Anita and Bloom, David E. and Laxminarayan, Ramanan, Childhood Vaccinations and Adult Schooling Attainment: Long-Term Evidence from India’s Universal Immunisation Programme (April 26, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3379828

Arindam Nandi (Contact Author)

The Population Council ( email )

New York, NY
United States

One Health Trust ( email )

5636 Connecticut Avenue NW,
PO Box 42735
Washington DC, DC 20015
United States

Santosh Kumar

University of Notre Dame ( email )

Keough School of Global Affairs
JNH 4139
Notre Dame, IN 46556
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://keough.nd.edu/profile/santosh-kumar/

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Global Labor Organization ( email )

Collogne
Germany

Anita Shet

Johns Hopkins University - International Vaccine Access Center ( email )

Baltimore, MD
United States

David E. Bloom

Harvard University - T.H. Chan School of Public Health ( email )

677 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA MA 02115
United States
617-432-0654 (Phone)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Ramanan Laxminarayan

One Health Trust ( email )

1616 P St NW
Suite 600
Washington DC, DC 20036
United States

Princeton University ( email )

22 Chambers Street
Princeton, NJ 08544-0708
United States

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