IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v182y2017icp127-135.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Political gender inequality and infant mortality in the United States, 1990–2012

Author

Listed:
  • Homan, Patricia

Abstract

Although gender inequality has been recognized as a crucial factor influencing population health in the developing world, research has not yet thoroughly documented the role it may play in shaping U.S. infant mortality rates (IMRs). This study uses administrative data with fixed-effects and random-effects models to (1) investigate the relationship between political gender inequality in state legislatures and state infant mortality rates in the United States from 1990 to 2012, and (2) project the population level costs associated with women's underrepresentation in 2012. Results indicate that higher percentages of women in state legislatures are associated with reduced IMRs, both between states and within-states over time. According to model predictions, if women were at parity with men in state legislatures, the expected number of infant deaths in the U.S. in 2012 would have been lower by approximately 14.6% (3,478 infant deaths). These findings underscore the importance of women's political representation for population health.

Suggested Citation

  • Homan, Patricia, 2017. "Political gender inequality and infant mortality in the United States, 1990–2012," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 127-135.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:182:y:2017:i:c:p:127-135
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.04.024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953617302472
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.04.024?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lukachko, Alicia & Hatzenbuehler, Mark L. & Keyes, Katherine M., 2014. "Structural racism and myocardial infarction in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 42-50.
    2. Krieger, N. & Chen, J.T. & Coull, B. & Waterman, P.D. & Beckfield, J., 2013. "The unique impact of abolition of Jim Crow Laws on reducing inequities in infant death rates and implications for choice of comparison groups in analyzing societal determinants of health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(12), pages 2234-2244.
    3. Schenker N. & Gentleman J. F., 2001. "On Judging the Significance of Differences by Examining the Overlap Between Confidence Intervals," The American Statistician, American Statistical Association, vol. 55, pages 182-186, August.
    4. Michael Grossman & Steven Jacobowitz, 1981. "Variations in infant mortality rates among counties of the United States: The roles of public policies and programs," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 18(4), pages 695-713, November.
    5. Michael Grossman & Steven Jacobowitz, 1981. "Variations in Infant Mortality Rates among Counties in the United States: The Roles of Social Policies and Programs," NBER Working Papers 0615, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Shandra, John M. & Nobles, Jenna & London, Bruce & Williamson, J.B.John B., 2004. "Dependency, democracy, and infant mortality: a quantitative, cross-national analysis of less developed countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 321-333, July.
    7. Lu, M.C. & Johnson, K.A., 2014. "Toward a national strategy on infant mortality," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(S1), pages 13-16.
    8. Martha J. Bailey & Melanie Guldi & Brad J. Hershbein, 2013. "Recent Evidence On The Broad Benefits Of Reproductive Health Policy," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 888-896, September.
    9. Subramanyam, Malavika & Kawachi, Ichiro & Berkman, Lisa & Subramanian, S.V., 2009. "Relative deprivation in income and self-rated health in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 327-334, August.
    10. Backhans, Mona C. & Lundberg, Michael & Månsdotter, Anna, 2007. "Does increased gender equality lead to a convergence of health outcomes for men and women? A study of Swedish municipalities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(9), pages 1892-1903, May.
    11. Chen, Ying-Yeh & Subramanian, S. V. & Acevedo-Garcia, Doloros & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2005. "Women's status and depressive symptoms: A multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 49-60, January.
    12. R. Frey & Carolyn Field, 2000. "The determinants of Infant Mortality in the Less Developed Countries: A Cross-National Test of Five Theories," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 215-234, December.
    13. Moss, Nancy E., 2002. "Gender equity and socioeconomic inequality: a framework for the patterning of women's health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 54(5), pages 649-661, March.
    14. Kawachi, Ichiro & Kennedy, Bruce P. & Gupta, Vanita & Prothrow-Stith, Deborah, 1999. "Women's status and the health of women and men: a view from the States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 21-32, January.
    15. Grant Miller, 2008. "Women's Suffrage, Political Responsiveness, and Child Survival in American History," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(3), pages 1287-1327.
    16. Backhans, Mona Christina & Burström, Bo & Lindholm, Lars & Månsdotter, Anna, 2009. "Pioneers and laggards - Is the effect of gender equality on health dependent on context?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(8), pages 1388-1395, April.
    17. Pratley, Pierre, 2016. "Associations between quantitative measures of women's empowerment and access to care and health status for mothers and their children: A systematic review of evidence from the developing world," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 119-131.
    18. Ulrike Boehmer & John Williamson, 1996. "The impact of women's status on infant mortality rate: A cross-national analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 333-360, March.
    19. Koenen, Karestan C. & Lincoln, Alisa & Appleton, Allison, 2006. "Women's status and child well-being: A state-level analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(12), pages 2999-3012, December.
    20. Diane Lauderdale, 2006. "Birth outcomes for Arabic-named women in California before and after September 11," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(1), pages 185-201, February.
    21. Collins Jr., J.W. & David, R.J. & Handler, A. & Wall, S. & Andes, S., 2004. "Very low birthweight in African American infants: The role of maternal exposure to interpersonal racial discrimination," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 94(12), pages 2132-2138.
    22. Anna Aizer, 2010. "The Gender Wage Gap and Domestic Violence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(4), pages 1847-1859, September.
    23. Quamruzzaman, Amm & Lange, Matthew, 2016. "Female political representation and child health: Evidence from a multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 48-57.
    24. Wilkinson, Richard G. & Pickett, Kate E., 2007. "The problems of relative deprivation: Why some societies do better than others," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(9), pages 1965-1978, November.
    25. Singh, G.K. & Yu, S.M., 1995. "Infant mortality in the United States: Trends, differentials, and projections, 1950 through 2010," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 85(7), pages 957-964.
    26. Braveman, P.A. & Cubbin, C. & Egerter, S. & Williams, D.R. & Pamuk, E., 2010. "Socioeconomic disparities in health in the united States: What the patterns tell us," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(S1), pages 186-196.
    27. Ce Shen & John Williamson, 2001. "Accounting for Cross-National Differences in Infant Mortality Decline (1965–1991) among less Developed Countries: Effects of Women's Status, Economic Dependency, and State Strength," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 257-288, March.
    28. Ahmed, S. & Koenig, M.A. & Stephenson, R., 2006. "Effects of domestic violence on perinatal and early childhood mortality: Evidence from North India," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 96(8), pages 1423-1428.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hamid Noghanibehambari & Farzaneh Noghani & Nahid Tavassoli, 2023. "Social externalities of women empowerment: Evidence from suffrage movements of late nineteenth and early twentieth century United States," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 70(3), pages 268-284, July.
    2. Everett, Bethany G. & Philbin, Morgan M. & Homan, Patricia, 2024. "Structural heteropatriarchy and maternal cardiovascular morbidities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 351(S1).
    3. Yselle Flora Kuete Malah, 2021. "Is happiness in the hands of women?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 41(2), pages 573-587.
    4. Ross Macmillan & Naila Shofia & Wendy Sigle, 2018. "Gender and the Politics of Death: Female Representation, Political and Developmental Context, and Population Health in a Cross-National Panel," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(5), pages 1905-1934, October.
    5. Nguyen, Canh Phuc, 2021. "Gender equality and economic complexity," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 45(4).
    6. Megan M. Reynolds & Patricia A. Homan, 2023. "Income Support Policy Packages and Birth Outcomes in U.S. States: An Ecological Analysis," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(4), pages 1-24, August.
    7. Evelyn J. Patterson & Andréa Becker & Darwin A. Baluran, 2022. "Gendered Racism on the Body: An Intersectional Approach to Maternal Mortality in the United States," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(3), pages 1261-1294, June.
    8. Philbin, Morgan M. & Everett, Bethany G. & Auerbach, Judith D., 2024. "Gender(ed) science: How the institutionalization of gender continues to shape the conduct and content of women's health research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 351(S1).
    9. Hamid Noghanibehambari & Farzaneh Noghani, 2023. "Long‐run intergenerational health benefits of women empowerment: Evidence from suffrage movements in the US," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(11), pages 2583-2631, November.

    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. Homan, Patricia, 2024. "Health consequences of structural sexism: Conceptual foundations, empirical evidence and priorities for future research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 351(S1).
    2. Nobles, Jenna & Brown, Ryan & Catalano, Ralph, 2010. "National independence, women's political participation, and life expectancy in Norway," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(9), pages 1350-1357, May.
    3. Dahlin, Johanna & Härkönen, Juho, 2013. "Cross-national differences in the gender gap in subjective health in Europe: Does country-level gender equality matter?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 24-28.
    4. Matthew Sanderson, 2010. "International Migration and Human Development in Destination Countries: A Cross-National Analysis of Less-Developed Countries, 1970–2005," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 96(1), pages 59-83, March.
    5. Ross Macmillan & Naila Shofia & Wendy Sigle, 2018. "Gender and the Politics of Death: Female Representation, Political and Developmental Context, and Population Health in a Cross-National Panel," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(5), pages 1905-1934, October.
    6. Miller, Michael & Toffolutti, Veronica & Reeves, Aaron, 2018. "The enduring influence of institutions on universal health coverage: An empirical investigation of 62 former colonies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 270-287.
    7. Rob Clark & Kara Snawder, 2020. "A Cross-National Analysis of Lifespan Inequality, 1950–2015: Examining the Distribution of Mortality Within Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 705-732, April.
    8. Moore, Spencer & Teixeira, Ana C. & Shiell, Alan, 2006. "The health of nations in a global context: Trade, global stratification, and infant mortality rates," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 165-178, July.
    9. Roberts, Sarah C.M., 2012. "Macro-level gender equality and alcohol consumption: A multi-level analysis across U.S. States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 60-68.
    10. Fuse, Kana & Crenshaw, Edward M., 2006. "Gender imbalance in infant mortality: A cross-national study of social structure and female infanticide," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 360-374, January.
    11. Backhans, Mona Christina & Burström, Bo & Lindholm, Lars & Månsdotter, Anna, 2009. "Pioneers and laggards - Is the effect of gender equality on health dependent on context?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(8), pages 1388-1395, April.
    12. Stephen Abrokwah & Christine Moser & Edward Norton, 2014. "The effect of social health insurance on prenatal care: the case of Ghana," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 385-406, December.
    13. Charlotte Goodburn, 2014. "Rural–Urban Migration and Gender Disparities in Child Healthcare in China and India," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 45(4), pages 631-655, July.
    14. García-Calvente, Mar & Marcos-Marcos, Jorge & del Río-Lozano, María & Hidalgo-Ruzzante, Natalia & Maroto-Navarro, Gracia, 2012. "Embedded gender and social changes underpinning inequalities in health: An ethnographic insight into a local Spanish context," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(12), pages 2225-2232.
    15. Hope Corman & Dhaval Dave & Nancy E. Reichman, 2018. "Evolution of the Infant Health Production Function," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(1), pages 6-47, July.
    16. Janet Currie & Lucia Nixon & Nancy Cole, 1996. "Restrictions on Medicaid Funding of Abortion: Effects on Birth Weight and Pregnancy Resolutions," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 31(1), pages 159-188.
    17. Valente, Christine, 2014. "Access to abortion, investments in neonatal health, and sex-selection: Evidence from Nepal," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 225-243.
    18. Esposito, Lucio & Villaseñor, Adrián, 2017. "Relative deprivation: Measurement issues and predictive role for body image dissatisfaction," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 49-57.
    19. Slaughter-Acey, Jaime C. & Brown, Tony N. & Keith, Verna M. & Dailey, Rhonda & Misra, Dawn P., 2020. "A tale of two generations: Maternal skin color and adverse birth outcomes in Black/African American women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).

    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:eee:socmed:v:182:y:2017:i:c:p:127-135. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    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.