Women's status and the health of women and men: a view from the States

Ichiro Kawachi, Bruce P. Kennedy, Vanita Gupta and Deborah Prothrow-Stith

Social Science & Medicine, 1999, vol. 48, issue 1, 21-32

Abstract: We examined the status of women in the 50 American states in relation to women's and men's levels of health. The status of women in each state was assessed by four composite indices measuring women's political participation, economic autonomy, employment and earnings, and reproductive rights. The study design was cross-sectional and ecologic. Our main outcome measures were total female and male mortality rates, female cause-specific death rates and mean days of activity limitations reported by women during the previous month. Measures of women's status were strikingly correlated with each of these health outcomes at the state level. Higher political participation by women was correlated with lower female mortality rates (r=-0.51), as well as lower activity limitations (-0.47). A smaller wage gap between women and men was associated with lower female mortality rates (-0.30) and lower activity limitations (-0.31) (all correlations, P

Keywords: Gender; Women's; status; Women's; health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1999
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (30)

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