Gender Differences in Whether and How Perceived Inequality Hampers Self-Rated Health and Mental Health: Evidence from the Chinese General Social Survey and a Randomized Experiment in China

Jacqueline Chen Chen, Chenling Yu and Jianhua Zhu ()
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Jacqueline Chen Chen: School of Public Administration, Zhejing University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China
Chenling Yu: School of Public Administration, Zhejing University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China
Jianhua Zhu: School of Public Administration, Zhejing University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: A substantial body of research has explored the relationship between inequality and health, yet little is known about the gender-specific effects and pathways through which inequality affects health outcomes. This study focuses on China, a country characterized by high income inequality and uneven health distribution across social groups. In Study 1, repeated nationally representative cross-sectional data from the Chinese General Social Survey is utilized (N = 3798 for 2017, N = 1578 for 2015, and N = 2827 for 2008), revealing that perceived inequality negatively affects self-rated health, particularly among women. The high level of perceived economic inequality substantially contributes to the gender health gap in China. Study 2 employs a randomized experiment (N = 3568) to show that perceived inequality affects the health of women and men differently, that is, social mobility framing accounts for the negative effect on women’s mental well-being, whereas reducing status anxiety mainly benefits men’s mental health. To advance research on economic inequality and health, this study investigates gender differences in whether and how perceived inequality affects health.

Keywords: gender differences; inequality; health; randomized experiment; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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