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Inequality and access to social services in Latin America: space–time constraints of child health checkups and prenatal care in Montevideo

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  • Hernandez, Diego
  • Rossel, Cecilia

Abstract

This paper explores the role of space–time constraints in determining the conditions under which people access to basic social services. To do so, the paper addresses two empirical questions: (i) how travel time impacts families’ strategies for choosing and using social services, and (ii) how service characteristics become part of the constraints families have to face when using services. Both questions refer to problems that are of “time nature” (e.g., long waiting hours or the imposition of additional tasks and travel to finally obtain access to the service). The use of a space–time approach introduces a theoretical innovation for studying access to urban public social services in the region, shedding light on the micro-processes underneath macro-aggregated indicators. This is performed by examining in a qualitative manner the way in which space–time constraints are distributed among different types of families and by looking at families’ strategies for accessing services in a city like Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. The empirical evidence is a qualitative study with 13 households with at least one child between 0 and 3years of age. These households were selected from a purposive sample that allowed the study of a group of cases from different socioeconomic strata living in different geographical locations. The paper results suggest that households use travel time as an input to manage total time investment (travel plus participation) when defining a strategy to reach better services. In addition, empirical evidence reflects the distorting effects that uncertainty about the time to be spent in using the services may have on the activities of households.

Suggested Citation

  • Hernandez, Diego & Rossel, Cecilia, 2015. "Inequality and access to social services in Latin America: space–time constraints of child health checkups and prenatal care in Montevideo," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 24-32.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:44:y:2015:i:c:p:24-32
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2015.02.007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Daniel Oviedo & Lynn Scholl & Marco Innao & Lauramaria Pedraza, 2019. "Do Bus Rapid Transit Systems Improve Accessibility to Job Opportunities for the Poor? The Case of Lima, Peru," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-24, May.
    3. Jirón, Paola & Carrasco, Juan-Antonio & Rebolledo, Marcela, 2020. "Observing gendered interdependent mobility barriers using an ethnographic and time use approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 204-214.
    4. Tiznado-Aitken, Ignacio & Lucas, Karen & Muñoz, Juan Carlos & Hurtubia, Ricardo, 2020. "Understanding accessibility through public transport users' experiences: A mixed methods approach," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    5. McQuoid, Julia & Thrul, Johannes & Ling, Pamela, 2018. "A geographically explicit ecological momentary assessment (GEMA) mixed method for understanding substance use," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 89-98.
    6. Hernandez, Diego, 2018. "Uneven mobilities, uneven opportunities: Social distribution of public transport accessibility to jobs and education in Montevideo," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 119-125.
    7. Gonzalo Suazo-Vecino & Juan Carlos Muñoz & Luis Fuentes Arce, 2019. "The Displacement of Santiago de Chile’s Downtown during 1990–2015: Travel Time Effects on Eradicated Population," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-14, December.
    8. Xu, Mengya & Xin, Jing & Su, Shiliang & Weng, Min & Cai, Zhongliang, 2017. "Social inequalities of park accessibility in Shenzhen, China: The role of park quality, transport modes, and hierarchical socioeconomic characteristics," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 38-50.
    9. Maciejewska, Monika & Marquet, Oriol & Miralles-Guasch, Carme, 2019. "Changes in gendered mobility patterns in the context of the Great Recession (2007–2012)," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1-1.

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