IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/erg/wpaper/1011.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Socio-Economic Inequalities in Maternity Care Under Political Instability: Evidence from Egypt, Jordan and Yemen

Author

Listed:
  • Ahmed Shoukry Rashad
  • Mesbah Fathy Sharaf

    (Department of Economics, Faculty of Arts, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada)

Abstract

Medical care during pregnancy is crucial for protecting women from health risks during and after pregnancy, and has been consistently linked to better child health outcomes. Improving maternal health is one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This paper examines the socio-economic inequalities in maternity care utilization in Egypt, Jordan, and Yemen after the Arab Spring, using the most recent rounds of the National Demographic and Health Survey. Concentration curves and concentration indices are used to examine the demographic and socio-economic correlates of maternity care utilization, and to assess the situation under the political instability that followed the Arab Spring. In addition, we investigate the underlying factors that generate the socio-economic inequalities in maternity care utilization by decomposing the concentration index into its determinants. The analysis yields that the degree of the socio-economic inequalities in maternity care utilization varies largely within the Arab world. The level of inequality is severe in Yemen, moderate in Egypt, and minor in Jordan. Results of the decomposition analysis show that socio-economic disparities in maternity care utilization are mainly due to the lack of economic resources and its correlates among the poor. The political instability in the region did not hinder Egypt and Jordan from improving the maternal health indicators at the national level. Increasing women education, especially among the poor, and poverty reduction measures focusing on rural communities could help narrow the inequalities in maternity care and hence improves population health outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Ahmed Shoukry Rashad & Mesbah Fathy Sharaf, 2016. "Socio-Economic Inequalities in Maternity Care Under Political Instability: Evidence from Egypt, Jordan and Yemen," Working Papers 1011, Economic Research Forum, revised Jun 2016.
    • Handle: RePEc:erg:wpaper:1011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://erf.org.eg/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/1011.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://bit.ly/1UFqenb
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wagstaff, Adam & Paci, Pierella & van Doorslaer, Eddy, 1991. "On the measurement of inequalities in health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 545-557, January.
    2. Ahmed, Shakil & Khan, M. Mahmud, 2011. "Is demand-side financing equity enhancing? Lessons from a maternal health voucher scheme in Bangladesh," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(10), pages 1704-1710, May.
    3. Owen O'Donnell & Eddy van Doorslaer & Adam Wagstaff & Magnus Lindelow, 2008. "Analyzing Health Equity Using Household Survey Data : A Guide to Techniques and Their Implementation," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6896, December.
    4. Wagstaff, Adam & van Doorslaer, Eddy & Watanabe, Naoko, 2003. "On decomposing the causes of health sector inequalities with an application to malnutrition inequalities in Vietnam," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 207-223, January.
    5. Ahmed Rashad & Mesbah Sharaf, 2015. "Catastrophic and Impoverishing Effects of Out-Of-Pocket Health Expenditure: New Evidence from Egypt," Working Papers 974, Economic Research Forum, revised Nov 2015.
    6. Ahmed Shoukry Rashad & Mesbah Fathy Sharaf, 2015. "Catastrophic Economic Consequences of Healthcare Payments: Effects on Poverty Estimates in Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine," Economies, MDPI, vol. 3(4), pages 1-19, November.
    7. Nandakumar, A. K. & Chawla, Mukesh & Khan, Maryam, 2000. "Utilization of Outpatient Care in Egypt and its Implications for the Role of Government in Health Care Provision," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 187-196, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Socio-Economic Inequalities in Maternity Care under Political Instability: Evidence from Egypt, Jordan, and Yemen
      by pmakdissi in NEP-ARA blog on 2017-03-23 03:11:21

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Owen O’Donnell & Eddy van Doorslaer & Adam Wagstaff, 2012. "Decomposition of Inequalities in Health and Health Care," Chapters, in: Andrew M. Jones (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Health Economics, Second Edition, chapter 17, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Chaofan Li & Lei Dou & Haipeng Wang & Shanshan Jing & Aitian Yin, 2017. "Horizontal Inequity in Health Care Utilization among the Middle-Aged and Elderly in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-13, July.
    3. Gustav Kjellsson & Dennis Petrie & Tom (T.G.M.) van Ourti, 2018. "Measuring income-related inequalities in risky health prospects," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 18-007/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    4. Aristides dos Santos, Anderson Moreira & Perelman, Julian & Jacinto, Paulo de Andrade & Tejada, Cesar Augusto Oviedo & Barros, Aluísio J.D. & Bertoldi, Andréa D. & Matijasevich, Alicia & Santos, Iná S, 2019. "Income-related inequality and inequity in children’s health care: A longitudinal analysis using data from Brazil," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 127-137.
    5. Sharaf, Mesbah & Rashad, Ahmed, 2016. "Economic and Socio-Demographic Determinants of Child Nutritional Status in Egypt: A Comprehensive Analysis using Quantile Regression Approach," Working Papers 2016-4, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
    6. McGovern, Mark E., 2014. "Comparing the relationship between stature and later life health in six low and middle income countries," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 4(C), pages 128-148.
    7. Olufunke Alaba & Lumbwe Chola, 2014. "Socioeconomic Inequalities in Adult Obesity Prevalence in South Africa: A Decomposition Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, March.
    8. Philip Clarke & Tom Van Ourti, 2009. "Correcting the Bias in the Concentration Index when Income is Grouped," CEPR Discussion Papers 599, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    9. Nguyen, Duyen Thuy & Donnelly, Michael & Van Hoang, Minh & O'Neill, Ciaran, 2023. "The case for individualised public health interventions: Smoking prevalence and inequalities in Northern Ireland 1985-2015," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    10. John E. Ataguba, 2022. "A short note revisiting the concentration index: Does the normalization of the concentration index matter?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(7), pages 1506-1512, July.
    11. Batana, Yélé Maweki, 2010. "Evolution of social inequalities in health in Quebec?," MPRA Paper 20710, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Randive, Bharat & San Sebastian, Miguel & De Costa, Ayesha & Lindholm, Lars, 2014. "Inequalities in institutional delivery uptake and maternal mortality reduction in the context of cash incentive program, Janani Suraksha Yojana: Results from nine states in India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-6.
    13. Stefania Ilinca & Ricardo Rodrigues & Andrea E. Schmidt, 2017. "Fairness and Eligibility to Long-Term Care: An Analysis of the Factors Driving Inequality and Inequity in the Use of Home Care for Older Europeans," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-15, October.
    14. Clifton Makate & Marshall Makate & Nelson Mango, 2019. "Wealth-related inequalities in adoption of drought-tolerant maize and conservation agriculture in Zimbabwe," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(4), pages 881-896, August.
    15. E. Xie, 2011. "Income-related inequalities of health and health care utilization," Frontiers of Economics in China, Springer;Higher Education Press, vol. 6(1), pages 131-156, March.
    16. Martha Tangeni Nghipandulwa & Alfred Kechia Mukong, 2023. "Estimating Income-Related Health Inequalities Associated with Tobacco and Alcohol Consumption in Namibia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-17, January.
    17. Hai Zhong, 2010. "On decomposing the inequality and inequity change in health care utilization: change in means, or change in the distributions?," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 369-386, December.
    18. Jemimah Ride, 2019. "Is socioeconomic inequality in postnatal depression an early-life root of disadvantage for children?," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(7), pages 1013-1027, September.
    19. Hajizadeh, Mohammad & Pandey, Sujita & Pulok, Mohammad Habibullah, 2023. "Decomposition of socioeconomic inequalities in catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditure for healthcare in Canada," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 51-59.
    20. Makate, Marshall & Makate, Clifton, 2016. "The Evolution of Socioeconomic-Related Inequalities in Maternal Healthcare Utilization: Evidence from Zimbabwe, 1994-2011," MPRA Paper 83897, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 12 Jan 2018.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:erg:wpaper:1011. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sherine Ghoneim (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/erfaceg.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.