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Bhatnagar I. A Girl and a Boy, Are a Bundle of Joy: A Rise in Gender-Equitable Fertility Preferences in India. Stud Fam Plann 2023. [PMID: 36964946 DOI: 10.1111/sifp.12236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/27/2023]
Abstract
Within the last decade, declining son preference in Asia has given rise to gender-equitable fertility preferences. These include daughter preference, gender indifference, and gender balance. Using five rounds of the India National Family Health Surveys, I investigate the sources of the trends in shifting parental preferences for the gender of their children. Over more than a quarter-century period (1992-1993 to 2019-2021), I find a significant decline in son preference from 40 to 18 percent and an increase in gender-equitable preferences among most subpopulations. Multivariate analysis shows that for all survey years, education and frequent exposure to television significantly increased the odds of gender-equitable preferences. In the last decade, community norms supporting women's employment are also associated with gender-equitable preferences. In addition, decomposition analysis shows that compared to compositional change, social norm change accounts for two-thirds of the rise in gender-equitable preferences. These findings suggest that rising norms of gender equality have the potential to dismantle gender-biased preferences in India.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isha Bhatnagar
- Department of Global Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA
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2
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Grieve E, Mamun AA, de Roos B, Barman BK, Ara G, Roos N, Pounds A, Sneddon AA, Murray F, Ahmed T, Little DC. Adolescent girls in aquaculture ecozones at risk of nutrient deficiency in Bangladesh development and validation of an integrated metric. BMC Public Health 2023; 23:405. [PMID: 36855076 PMCID: PMC9972605 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-15175-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2022] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND This study developed and validated an integrated metric that enhances understanding of linkages between agro-ecological and socio-economic factors that are important for explaining nutritional wellbeing in relation to fish consumption; especially among adolescent girls who are at risk of nutritional deficiency in Bangladesh. Currently, there is no metric that takes account of environmental, cultural and economic contexts when considering fish consumption and dietary health from a policy perspective. METHODS The study was designed as a bi-seasonal survey, repeated in the same population of adolescent girls recruited during the dry and wet seasons. Sampling was stratified by five settings (four aqua-agroecological zones and one processing plant community), with 60 girls recruited in each. Associations between candidate predictors (salinity, diet diversity, religion, socio-economic status and women's autonomy score) and dependent variables representing nutritional outcomes (anthropometry, omega-3 index and micronutrient levels) were explored in multivariable regressions. The fitted model with its predictors was validated, and a risk score derived from responses to a few short questions on religion, salinity zone, female autonomy, diet diversity and tilapia consumption. RESULTS The omega-3 index showed the clearest distinction between seasons, by salinity and religion. Higher female autonomy, religion (being Hindu rather than Muslim), geographical location (living in a high or mid-saline area), and a higher dietary diversity were the strongest predictors of whole blood omega-3 index. The c-index for the prognostic model was 0.83 and 0.76 in the wet and dry season respectively, indicating good predictive accuracy. There appeared to be a clear trend in risk scores differentiating between those 'chronically at risk' and those 'never at risk'. CONCLUSIONS Observational data on different aquaculture-ecozones defined by salinity enabled us to establish linkages between seasonal fish intake, religion, diet diversity, female autonomy and nutritional wellbeing. The purpose of the metric is to reveal these specific linkages in practice. This tool should improve targeting of timely, preventative and cost-effective nutritional interventions to adolescent girls most at-risk from low omega-3 levels in communities where seafood is produced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor Grieve
- 1 Lilybank Gardens, Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8RZ, UK.
| | - Abdullah-Al Mamun
- Department of Fisheries and Marine Science, Noakhali Science and Technology University, University Road, Noakhali, 3814, Bangladesh
| | - Baukje de Roos
- The Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen, Ashgrove Road W, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, UK
| | - Benoy K Barman
- WorldFish, Bangladesh and South Asia, House 355/A Rd 114, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh
| | - Gulshan Ara
- Nutrition and Clinical Services Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, GPO Box 128, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh
| | - Nanna Roos
- Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Nørre Allé 51, 2200, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Alexandra Pounds
- Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK
| | - Alan A Sneddon
- The Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen, Ashgrove Road W, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, UK
| | - Francis Murray
- Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK
| | - Tahmeed Ahmed
- Nutrition and Clinical Services Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, GPO Box 128, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh
| | - David C Little
- Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK
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Reed MN. The gendered practices of the upwardly mobile in India. SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 2022; 103:102652. [PMID: 35183315 PMCID: PMC10835134 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2020] [Revised: 04/18/2021] [Accepted: 09/19/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
This study examines the relationship between economic mobility and the practice of female seclusion in Indian households using the India Human Development Survey (IHDS), a nationally representative panel survey. Women from households which became wealthier between survey waves were found to have increased restrictions on their physical mobility as well as higher odds of practicing head-covering or purdah. These results held even after the inclusion of controls for changes in household composition, health of the woman, and her labor force participation. Stratified fixed effects regression analyses revealed that mobility-induced female seclusion was primarily practiced in poorer communities, in rural areas, and among the less-educated. The findings suggest that economically mobile households may use female seclusion as a strategy to signal household status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan N Reed
- University of Pennsylvania, 3718 Locust Walk, McNeil Building, Ste. 353, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-6299, USA.
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Reed MN. Reproductive transitions and women's status in Indian households. POPULATION STUDIES 2021; 75:325-341. [PMID: 33877024 PMCID: PMC10835135 DOI: 10.1080/00324728.2021.1904147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2018] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Using panel data, this study tracks the impact of reproductive transitions on women's status in the household in India. Here, status refers to the social benefits that women experience by meeting societal expectations related to childbearing. The analysis shows that becoming a mother is associated with increased freedom of movement and access to enabling resources. The adoption of permanent contraception-a common life course event marking the end of childbearing in India-is associated with increased freedom of movement but has no association with changes in access to enabling resources. Household decision-making, another dimension of women's status examined in the paper, is less dynamic over time and there is limited evidence of its association with reproductive transitions. The findings illustrate the tight linkages between household power dynamics and the life course in the South Asian context, and highlight the centrality of women's role as mothers in determining their social position.
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Zumbyte I. The Gender System and Class Mobility: How Wealth and Community Veiling Shape Women's Autonomy in India. SOCIOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT (OAKLAND, CALIF.) 2021; 7:469-513. [PMID: 37621697 PMCID: PMC10448906 DOI: 10.1525/sod.2020.0042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/26/2023]
Abstract
It is often assumed that improvements in household wealth are associated with greater gender equality, including greater women's autonomy and decision-making power inside the home. Yet, evidence often shows the opposite: greater household wealth often curtails women's autonomy. Research has yet to reveal the driving forces behind this surprising finding. This paper focuses on one important social force, the community gender system, to show how it shapes the relationship between changing household wealth and women's autonomy. Drawing on a nationally representative panel of rural women in India and fixed effects models, I find that the prevalence of women's veiling at the village level, a notable marker of an exclusionary gender system, moderates the effects of increasing household wealth on women's autonomy. In villages with less veiling, increases in wealth have the perverse effect of suppressing women's autonomy. The study suggests that in these places, households curtail women's mobility because such behavior signals rising social status. In contrast, in villages with more veiling increasing household wealth does not reduce women's autonomy because most households across the class spectrum are already conforming to the norms of seclusion. The findings demonstrate how new wealth interacts with a community gender system which is anchored in gendered notions of family honor to reproduce structures of gender inequality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ieva Zumbyte
- Sociology at Brown University. She explores how the interplay between family, state, and market institutions shapes gender inequality
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6
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Lata LN, Walters P, Roitman S. The politics of gendered space: Social norms and purdah affecting female informal work in Dhaka, Bangladesh. GENDER WORK AND ORGANIZATION 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lutfun Nahar Lata
- School of Social Science The University of Queensland Brisbane Queensland Australia
| | - Peter Walters
- School of Social Science The University of Queensland Brisbane Queensland Australia
| | - Sonia Roitman
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences The University of Queensland Brisbane Queensland Australia
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7
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Choudhuri P, Desai S. Gender inequalities and household fuel choice in India. JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION 2020; 265:121487. [PMID: 32831484 PMCID: PMC7307322 DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2019] [Revised: 03/30/2020] [Accepted: 03/31/2020] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
The use of solid cooking fuels-wood, straw, crop residue, and cow-dung cakes-is associated with higher levels of environmental pollution and health burden. However, even in an era when incomes have grown and poverty has declined, the proportion of Indian households using clean cooking fuels such as kerosene or Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) has increased only slightly. Even among the wealthiest quintile, only about 40 percent of the households rely solely on clean fuel. Since the chores of cooking and collection of fuel remain primarily the domain of women, we argue that intra-household gender inequalities play an important role in shaping the household decision to invest in clean fuel. Analyses using data from the India Human Development Survey (IHDS), a panel survey of over 41,000 households conducted in two waves in 2004-05 and 2011-12, respectively, show that women's access to salaried work and control over household expenditure decisions is associated with the use of clean fuel.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sonalde Desai
- National Council of Applied Economic Research, New Delhi, India
- University of Maryland College Park, USA
- Corresponding author. University of Maryland, College Park, USA.
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Chatterjee E, Desai S. Physical versus Imagined Communities: Migration and Women's Autonomy in India. JOURNAL OF ETHNIC AND MIGRATION STUDIES 2020; 46:2977-2996. [PMID: 33488269 PMCID: PMC7821976 DOI: 10.1080/1369183x.2019.1585016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
India has about 400 million internal migrants (UNESCO 2013). The proportion of permanent internal migrants in India has risen between 1983 and 2007-08, and much of this increase is attributed to female marriage migrants. However, there is limited literature analyzing the well-being of female marriage migrants in India. This paper seeks to examine whether women's autonomy in the public sphere is a function of: a) the geographical community where the woman resides, or b) imagined communities (the mindset of the communities to which the woman's family belongs), using multilevel mixed-effects logistic and ordered logistic regression. Analyzing data from the India Human Development Survey (IHDS), 2012, for more than 34,000 ever-married women aged 15-49 years, the study finds that the communities in the mind (norms about marriage migration in the caste/sub-caste to which the woman's family belongs) are more important than the physical communities to which the women have migrated, in relation to certain aspects of women's physical autonomy and autonomy to participate in civic activities. In contrast, a woman's economic autonomy is a function of both 'imagined' and 'physical' communities. Thus, the opportunities available to women who migrate for marriage are shaped by both geographical communities, and more importantly, by the norms in her community about marriage migration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esha Chatterjee
- Department of Sociology, University of Maryland College Park, 2112 Parren Mitchell Art-Sociology Building, 3834 Campus Dr, College Park, MD 20742,
| | - Sonalde Desai
- Department of Sociology, University of Maryland College Park, 2112 Parren Mitchell Art-Sociology Building, 3834 Campus Dr, College Park, MD 20742,
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Coffey D, Deshpande A, Hammer J, Spears D. Local Social Inequality, Economic Inequality, and Disparities in Child Height in India. Demography 2019; 56:1427-1452. [PMID: 31309449 PMCID: PMC8638789 DOI: 10.1007/s13524-019-00794-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
This study investigates disparities in child height-an important marker of population-level health-among population groups in rural India. India is an informative context in which to study processes of health disparities because of wide heterogeneity in the degree of local segregation or integration among caste groups. Building on a literature that identifies discrimination by quantifying whether differences in socioeconomic status (SES) can account for differences in health, we decompose height differences between rural children from higher castes and rural children from three disadvantaged groups. We find that socioeconomic differences can explain the height gap for children from Scheduled Tribes (STs), who tend to live in geographically isolated places. However, SES does not fully explain height gaps for children from the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Among SC and OBC children, local processes of discrimination also matter: the fraction of households in a child's locality that outrank her household in the caste hierarchy predicts her height. SC and OBC children who are surrounded by other lower-caste households are no shorter than higher-caste children of the same SES. Our results contrast with studies from other populations where segregation or apartheid are negatively associated with health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diane Coffey
- Department of Sociology, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.
- The Population Research Center, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.
- Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi, India.
- R.I.C.E., Hyderabad, India.
| | | | - Jeffrey Hammer
- Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Dean Spears
- The Population Research Center, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi, India
- R.I.C.E., Hyderabad, India
- Department of Economics, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
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10
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Samanta T. The joint family and its discontents: interrogating ambivalence in intergenerational relationships. ASIAN POPULATION STUDIES 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/17441730.2018.1560659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tannistha Samanta
- Humanities & Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Gujarat, India
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Rai RK, Jaacks LM, Bromage S, Barik A, Fawzi WW, Chowdhury A. Prospective cohort study of overweight and obesity among rural Indian adults: sociodemographic predictors of prevalence, incidence and remission. BMJ Open 2018; 8:e021363. [PMID: 30166296 PMCID: PMC6119421 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-021363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To assess sociodemographic predictors of prevalence, incidence and remission of overweight including obesity among adults (aged ≥18 years) in rural Eastern India. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Birbhum Health and Demographic Surveillance System, West Bengal, India. PARTICIPANTS Self-weighted sample of 24 115 adults (men: 10915, women: 13200) enrolled in 2008 were followed up for body mass index (BMI) reassessment in 2017. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES Measured BMI was categorised as: underweight (<18.5 kg/m2), normal weight (18.5-22.9 kg/m2) and overweight including obesity (≥23 kg/m2; hereinafter overweight). Incident overweight was defined as transition from normal weight in 2008 to overweight in 2017, whereas if overweight individuals in 2008 measured normal BMI in 2017, it was classified as remission from overweight. RESULTS In 2008, 10.1% of men and 14.6% of women were overweight, whereas 17.3% of men and 24.7% of women were overweight in 2017. At the same time, in 2017, 35.6% of men and 33.3% of women were underweight. Incident overweight was 19.0% among men and 27.2% among women, whereas remission among men was higher (15.4%) than women (11.5%). Women were more likely to be overweight in 2008 and to experience incident overweight than men. For men and women, education level and wealth were positively associated with prevalence and incidence of overweight. Remission from overweight was less likely in Sainthia, a business hub in the district, as compared with Mohammad Bazar, a more rural area. CONCLUSION A nutrition transition to higher risk of overweight is evident in this rural setting in India, especially among women and individuals with high socioeconomic status. At the same time, a high prevalence of underweight persists, resulting in a significant double burden. Culturally sensitive interventions that address both ends of the malnutrition spectrum should be prioritised.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajesh Kumar Rai
- Society for Health and Demographic Surveillance, Birbhum, West Bengal, India
| | - Lindsay M Jaacks
- Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Sabri Bromage
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Anamitra Barik
- Society for Health and Demographic Surveillance, Birbhum, West Bengal, India
- Suri District Hospital and Niramoy TB Sanatorium, Birbhum, West Bengal, India
| | - Wafaie W Fawzi
- Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Abhijit Chowdhury
- Society for Health and Demographic Surveillance, Birbhum, West Bengal, India
- Department of Hepatology, School of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
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Samari G, Pebley AR. Longitudinal Determinants of Married Women's Autonomy in Egypt. GENDER, PLACE AND CULTURE : A JOURNAL OF FEMINIST GEOGRAPHY 2018; 25:799-820. [PMID: 30930555 PMCID: PMC6436844 DOI: 10.1080/0966369x.2018.1473346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
This article explores determinants of women's autonomy in Egypt around the beginning of the 'Arab Spring' in 2011. We show that women's autonomy over time is a product not only of their individual characteristics, but also of the household and community environment in which they live. Using the 2006 and 2012 Egyptian Labor Market Panel Survey (ELMPS) and multilevel models, results demonstrate that women's autonomy changes over time. There are large and consistent variations in women's autonomy by household region of residence and wealth. For example, women in the rural and urban Upper Egypt region are less autonomous than women in the Cairo region, and women in wealthier households are less autonomous compared to the poorest households. Programs aiming to increase women's autonomy focus exclusively or primarily on women's own characteristics. These results indicate that strategies to improve women's autonomy should be mindful of the multiple dimensions of autonomy and have a programmatic focus on changing household and social environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Goleen Samari
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of California San Francisco
| | - Anne R Pebley
- Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, BOX 951772, 36-081A CHS, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772
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Coffey D, Hathi P, Khurana N, Thorat A. Explicit Prejudice: Evidence from a New Survey. ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY 2018; 53:46-54. [PMID: 37636125 PMCID: PMC10460543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/29/2023]
Abstract
A representative phone survey to study explicit prejudice against women and Dalits in Delhi, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan reveals widespread prejudice in several domains and discusses the consequences for women and Dalits, and society as a whole. The results suggest the need for a more robust public discourse and active approach to measuring and challenging prejudice and discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diane Coffey
- teaches at the University of Texas, Austin
- research institute for compassionate economics (r.i.c.e)
| | - Payal Hathi
- research institute for compassionate economics (r.i.c.e)
| | - Nidhi Khurana
- research institute for compassionate economics (r.i.c.e)
| | - Amit Thorat
- teaches at the School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
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Aubrey C, Mumtaz Z, Patterson P, Chari R, Mitchell BFP. Perspectives of Immigrant Women on the Gender of Provider During Childbirth. JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY CANADA 2017; 40:677-683. [PMID: 29274934 DOI: 10.1016/j.jogc.2017.09.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2017] [Revised: 09/26/2017] [Accepted: 09/26/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study sought to gain an understanding of the importance and effect of provider gender for immigrant women accessing obstetrical care. METHODS A focused ethnography was conducted using purposive sampling of 38 immigrant women from one hospital in Edmonton, Alberta. Data collection consisted of semistructured interviews conducted antenatally (n = 38); an attempt was made to conduct interviews postpartum (n = 21), and intrapartum observations were made (n = 17). Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were managed using qualitative data analysis software and analyzed through thematic analysis. RESULTS Study participants came from varied educational and ethnic backgrounds (predominately North/East African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian), but most were Muslim (n = 30) and married (n = 36), with a mean age of 27.7. All of the women stated that they preferred a female provider, which they explained in terms of the high value they placed on modesty, often as part of the Muslim faith. The women deemed provider competency and having safe childbirth more important, however, and said that they would accept intrapartum care from a male provider. A small minority of the women reported experiencing psychological stress as a consequence of having received care from a male provider. CONCLUSION As a whole, our study population accepted care from male providers, yet for some women this compromise came at a price, and a small minority of women perceived it as profoundly detrimental. There is a need to identify those women for whom gender of provider is a substantial barrier, so that optimal support can be provided.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christa Aubrey
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB
| | - Zubia Mumtaz
- School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB.
| | | | - Radha Chari
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB
| | - B F Peter Mitchell
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB
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Abstract
Background Women’s empowerment is often used to explain changes in reproductive behavior, but no consideration is given to how reproductive events can shape women’s empowerment over time. Fertility may cause changes in women’s empowerment, or they may be mutually influencing. Research on women’s empowerment and fertility relies on cross-sectional data from South Asia, which limits the understanding of the direction of association between women’s empowerment and fertility in other global contexts. This study uses two waves of a panel survey from a prominent Middle Eastern country, Egypt, to examine the trajectory of women’s empowerment and the relationship between first and subsequent births and empowerment over time. Methods Using longitudinal data from the 2006 and 2012 Egyptian Labor Market Panel Survey, a nationally representative sample of households in Egypt, for 4660 married women 15 to 49 years old, multilevel negative binomial, ordinary least squares, and logistic regression models estimate women’s empowerment and consider whether a first and subsequent births are associated with empowerment later in life. Women’s empowerment is operationalized through four measures of agency: individual household decision-making, joint household decision-making, mobility, and financial autonomy. Results A first birth and subsequent births are significantly positively associated with all measures of empowerment except financial autonomy in 2012. Women who have not had a birth make 30% fewer individual household decisions and 14% fewer joint household decisions in 2012 compared to women with a first birth. There is also a positive relationship with mobility, as women with a first birth have more freedom of movement compared to women with no births. Earlier empowerment is also an important predictor of empowerment later in life. Conclusions Incorporating the influence of life events like first and subsequent births helps account for the possibility that empowerment is dynamic and that life course experiences shape women’s empowerment. This and the notion that empowerment builds over time helps portray women’s lives more completely, demonstrates the importance of empowerment early in the life course, and addresses issues of temporality in empowerment fertility research. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12884-017-1494-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Goleen Samari
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
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Zaidi B, Morgan SP. In the Pursuit of Sons: Additional Births or Sex-Selective Abortion in Pakistan? POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW 2016; 42:693-710. [PMID: 28392607 PMCID: PMC5382870 DOI: 10.1111/padr.12002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Even though Pakistan is a highly patriarchal society, it has not featured prominently in studies focusing on sex-selective abortion and sex ratios at birth. But with fertility declining and existing strong son preference-Pakistan has one of the highest desired sex ratios in the world-how will Pakistani families respond? In the pursuit of sons, will they have additional children or resort to sex-selective abortions? Or is there evidence that the pursuit of sons is weakening? Using data from three rounds of the demographic and health survey, we show clear evidence of son preference in fertility intentions, patterns of contraceptive use and parity progression ratios. More specifically, we find pervasive evidence that Pakistanis continue childbearing to have a son, to have more than one son and to have at least one daughter. We do not find consistent and convincing evidence that sex ratios at birth (which indicate sex-selective abortion) are increasing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Batool Zaidi
- Sociology Department and Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | - S Philip Morgan
- Sociology Department and Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Stroope S. Seclusion, decision-making power, and gender disparities in adult health: Examining hypertension in India. SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 2015; 53:288-299. [PMID: 26188454 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2015.05.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2014] [Revised: 04/25/2015] [Accepted: 05/26/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Research on the social determinants of health in developing countries is increasingly focusing on the importance of gender. Cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension are a growing concern in developing countries, where they are now the leading cause of death. Researchers have documented differences in hypertension between men and women, but the importance of gendered practices in shaping these differences has been left unexamined. Using national data from the India Human Development Survey 2005 (N=101,593), this study assesses the moderating role of two salient and widespread gendered practices-women's seclusion and decision-making power-on hypertension disparities between women and men. Both seclusion and low decision-making power are associated with increased odds of hypertension for women, but in the case of seclusion reduced hypertension for men. Results also show the gender gap in hypertension is exacerbated with women's seclusion and low decision-making power.
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Allendorf K. Fertility Decline, Gender Composition of Families, and Expectations of Old Age Support. POPULATION RESEARCH AND POLICY REVIEW 2015; 34:511-539. [PMID: 28344373 PMCID: PMC5362165 DOI: 10.1007/s11113-014-9354-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Recent fertility declines in non-Western countries may have the potential to transform gender systems. One pathway for such transformations is the creation of substantial proportions of families with children of only one gender. Such families, particularly those with only daughters, may facilitate greater symmetry between sons and daughters. This article explores whether such shifts may influence gendered expectations of old age support. In keeping with patriarchal family systems, old age support is customarily provided by sons, but not daughters, in India. Using data from the 2005 Indian Human Development Survey, I find that women with sons overwhelmingly expect old age support from a son. By contrast, women with only daughters largely expect support from a daughter or a source besides a child. These findings suggest that fertility decline may place demographic pressure on gendered patterns of old age support and the gender system more broadly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keera Allendorf
- Sociology and International Studies, Indiana University, 1020 E. Kirkwood Ave., Ballantine Hall 744, Bloomington, IN 47405,
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