Macro-level gender inequality and child health outcomes in China

Abstract

Few studies have evaluated the potential impact of macro-level gender inequality on child development. Using data from the 2010 China Family Panel Studies, this study investigates whether and how county-level gender inequality affects children’s health outcomes in China. Results show that greater exposure to county-level sexism is associated with worse mental and physical health among both boys and girls in China. On the one hand, the greater the county-level gender inequality, the worse the depression symptoms and the lower the standardized height among children in this region. In addition, exposure to county-level gender inequality leads to a greater negative effect on mental health among girls than among boys. On the other hand, county-level gender inequality also imposes a greater negative effect on depression symptoms among children from families with a lower socioeconomic status along with an increasing harm on height as children grow older. Further analysis unveils the psychosocial mechanisms and the mechanism of access to family resources underlying the health effects of such exposure to macro-level gender inequality.