Household Resources Research Articles

A gender perspective on the circular economy: A literature review and research agenda

AbstractThe circular economy (CE) challenges the traditional linear economic model by emphasizing the importance of resource efficiency, recycling, and regeneration in society. However, the role of gender in CE practices remains underexplored. This article presents a systematic literature review on how gender dynamics intersect with CE, highlighting the implications of gendered labor distribution, access to resources, and decision‐making processes. Women, often pivotal in household and community resource management, are underrepresented in policy and research. Gender perspectives are therefore crucial for addressing social, environmental, and justice dimensions within CE. The study employs the lens of care labor to reveal power imbalances and the exclusion of marginalized groups, advocating for inclusive policies to achieve socially sustainable and equitable CE futures. The review identifies the overrepresentation of women in undervalued, informal activities and the dominance of men in highly valued, technologically advanced CE roles. It also underscores the benefits of gender diversity in corporate governance, which enhances sustainability practices. The article calls for a deeper examination of gender's impact on CE, suggesting a research agenda to integrate gender perspectives, enhance CE effectiveness, and promote equity. The findings indicate that addressing gender inequalities in CE is essential to prevent replicating the shortcomings of the linear economy and to foster innovative, inclusive, and sustainable development.

Reprint of: How do households respond to income shocks?

We use panel data from the Italian Survey of Household Income and Wealth from 1991 to 2016 to document what components of the household budget constraint change in response to shocks to household labor income, both over shorter and over longer horizons. Consumption and wealth responses are informative about the household consumption (or savings) function and thus about what class of consumption-savings model best describes the data. Empirically, we first show that shocks to labor income are associated with negligible changes in transfers and non-labor income components, modest changes in consumption expenditures, and large changes in wealth. To understand the wealth response we then split households into a sample that does not own business or real estate wealth, and a sample that does. For the first group, we find that consumption responses are more substantial (and increasing with the horizon of the income shock) and wealth responses are much smaller (and mildly increasing with the income shock horizon). Turning to theory, we argue that for this group, a simple extension of the standard permanent income hypothesis (PIH) consumption function that allows for partial insurance against even permanent income shocks explains the consumption and wealth responses well, both at short and long horizons. For the second group with business wealth or real estate wealth the standard framework cannot explain the large changes in wealth associated with income shocks. We conclude that models which include shocks to the value of household wealth are necessary to fully evaluate the sources and consequences of household resource risk.

Model of the “Economic Cross” of the Digital Platform: Opportunities and Conditions for Interindustry Technological Convergence

The platform economy is an objective stage in the evolution of the digital economy, whose development is carried out under the influence of the trend of involving a large number of SMEs and individuals in economic relations as their direct participants. Unlike the pre-digital era, when operational commercial direct interaction between small participants in economic relations turned out to be impossible, communication technologies of the second decade of the 21st century have created favorable opportunities for the development of independent businesses of individuals and small professional teams. The process of commercialization of household resources is actively taking place in the form of the development of private blogs as platforms for commercial advertising and mutual trade of goods and services by individuals online, which creates a direct competitive threat to traditional trading companies. The current stage in the development of online participation of SMEs and individuals in commercial relations is the development of outsourcing relationships, within which part of the processes implemented by large businesses independently using hired personnel and their own infrastructure will be delegated to independent network structures on a competitive basis. At the same time, in proportion to the growing popularity of e-commerce, public demands for the security of such transactions are increasing, which is especially important in conditions of sanctions uncertainty and high risks of supply chain collapse. This circumstance determines the business request for systematization of the digital space and its centralization, the terminal stage of which is an inter-industry digital platform. The purpose of the scientific article is to develop a system of proposals for the formation of a national intersectoral outsourcing platform based on the “economic cross” model. A system of innovative solutions has been developed regarding the organization of economic interaction between subjects, the procedure for financing the activities of the platform by its participants, and the distribution of indirect industry income arising from the functioning of the platform.

Patient Factors Associated with Access to Outpatient Pediatric General Surgical Care in a Rural State

BackgroundWe sought to understand factors impacting timely access to outpatient pediatric general surgical care in a largely rural state. MethodsWe conducted a multi-site retrospective cohort study, evaluating patients <18 years referred for outpatient pediatric general surgical evaluation from 11/1/2017–7/31/2022. Outcomes included obtaining an appointment, completing an appointment, and undergoing an operation. Time to appointment and operation were calculated. Bivariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression were performed to evaluate for associations between patient factors and the primary outcomes, as well as delay to appointment. ResultsOf 5270 patients, mean age was 7.1 years (SD = 6) with 59% male. All patients obtained an appointment; 85% (n = 4498) completed an appointment within one year. Forty percent (n = 2092) underwent an operation. Mean times from referral to appointment and operation were 22.5 (SD = 33.4) and 81.5 days (SD = 137.5), respectively. Patients who identified as African American/Black (OR = 1.94, p < 0.001), had self-pay (OR = 6.33, p < 0.001), or lived >100 miles away (OR = 1.55, p < 0.001) were more likely to not complete appointments. Patients with high household income (OR = 0.70, p = 0.009) and private insurance (OR = 0.60, p < 0.001) were less likely to not complete appointments. Delay to appointment was associated with race (p = 0.020). Patients with private insurance (p < 0.001) and higher income (p = 0.020) were more likely to undergo operation. ConclusionFifteen percent of patients referred for outpatient pediatric general surgical evaluation did not complete an appointment within one year. Race, household resources, insurance, and travel distance were associated with completing appointments. Information about groups that have disparate access to care will inform interventions to improve this access. Type of StudyRetrospective Cohort Study. Level of EvidenceIII.

SNAP Emergency Allotments, Emergency Rent Assistance, Rent Burden, and Housing and Food Security, June 2022-May 2023.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) emergency allotments and emergency rent assistance provided support to low-income households. Rent burden, a form of housing insecurity, can severely limit household resources, which, in turn, affects health equity. We explored whether these policy interventions equitably supported households that were or were not experiencing rent burden. We used data from the US Household Pulse Survey (June 2022-May 2023) to examine whether associations between emergency support policies and indicators of food and housing security differed according to household rent burden status. We modeled each outcome (food sufficiency or being current on rent) as a function of policy exposure (SNAP emergency allotments or emergency rent assistance), rent burden, and their interaction. We included demographic characteristics, state of residence, and survey cycle as covariates. We modeled each outcome and policy exposure combination separately. Receiving emergency allotments (72.4% vs 67.2% for SNAP participants in states with and without emergency allotments, respectively) and emergency rent assistance (64.5% vs 57.6% for households that received and were waitlisted/denied assistance, respectively) were associated with greater food sufficiency. The relationship between emergency allotments and food sufficiency was stronger in rent-burdened households; however, emergency rent assistance supported food sufficiency to a greater extent in non-rent-burdened households. Emergency rent assistance supported households in being current on rent (78.7% vs 56.4% for households that received and were waitlisted/denied assistance, respectively) and supported being current on rent to a greater extent in non-rent-burdened households than in rent-burdened households. The relationship between emergency support policies and food or housing security differed according to whether households were experiencing rent burden. Associations were sometimes stronger in less economically constrained conditions. These results indicate an opportunity to better design policies to support low-income households, address food and housing security, and ultimately decrease the prevalence of chronic disease.

Loneliness in Bavaria before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Loneliness represents asignificant health risk and is associated with numerous mental and physical conditions. The aim of this paper was to describe the prevalence of loneliness in Bavaria before and during the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to socio-demographic attributes. Data sources were the German Ageing Survey (DEAS) and the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Univariate statistical analyses were carried out for different socio-demographic attributes, such as age, gender, type of household, education, and financial resources. According to the SOEP, the proportion of adults who are often or very often lonely increased from 2.3% in 2017 to 16.2% in 2021. In 2021, women had ahigher prevalence of loneliness than men (21.0% vs. 11.3%), and younger adults had the highest prevalence of loneliness (18 to 25years: 31.7%) compared to the other age groups. During the COVID-19 pandemic, loneliness increased in almost every population subgroup in Bavaria. Further studies are needed to examine whether this development is temporary or represents along-term effect even after the measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have been lifted.

Impact of Male Migration on the Empowerment of Left-behind Muslim Women in Malappuram, Kerala

Migration has been projected as a force capable of developing economies of the labour exporting nations. In the past, religious orthodoxy among the Muslims in Malabar especially in the Malappuram district prevented women from obtaining higher education and finding employment which restricted their freedom and well-being. However, there have been changes in women's perspectives in reaction to changing needs and situations, for which migration and remittances made by migrants abroad have been the important contributing factors. When the male migrates, the left-behind women have to assume increased responsibilities which increases their control over household resources, mobility and decision-making power and the foreign remittances are utilised by the left-behind women to improve their quality of living, education and information. This article explores the effects of male migration and foreign remittances on the left-behind Muslim women in the Malappuram district through the lens of the Capability approach by constructing the Women’s Capability Index based on a sample survey in the Malappuram district using a Stratified Multi-stage random Sampling method. The study identifies a set of capabilities that are appropriate to the context of male migration and the consequent effect on the left behind women’s living arrangement, provides a framework for efficiently evaluating these capabilities, aggregates the capabilities into a single index, and then validates and tests the index. The Ordinal Logistic Regression, used to analyse the role of migration in the capability expansion of left-behind Muslim women shows that the foreign remittances sent by the husbands from abroad have a positive statistically significant effect on the left-behind Muslim women in the study area, implying that with the increase in the foreign remittances received by the left behind women, their capability also increases, whereas the husband's migrant duration does not have a statistically significant effect on the left-behind Muslim women’s capability

Community water governance for climate-resilient water security in Fiji

ABSTRACT Climate change is a significant and growing threat to water security in the Pacific Region. However, little is known about how communities in the region mobilize resources and institutions to safeguard water security and build resilience. We engage the community disaster resilience framework and use ethnographic observations and semi-structured interviews to examine how rural communities in Fiji mobilize household and community resources (effectively and otherwise) to manage water security amid persistent climate-related disasters. We highlight important lessons on the opportunities and challenges of community water governance for water security and disaster resilience in the Pacific Islands.

The impact of COVID-19 national lockdowns on drug-resistant tuberculosis in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: A spatial analysis

PurposeWe sought to understand the impact of the initial COVID-19 mitigation strategies in 2020 on drug-resistant (DR) TB diagnoses in KwaZulu-Natal province (KZN), South Africa. MethodsWe compared the number, spatial distribution, and characteristics of DR TB diagnoses before and after the initial COVID-19 lockdown on March 26th, 2020. Information on DR TB diagnoses was collected from the CONTEXT prospective cohort study and municipality characteristics were collected from Statistics South Africa. We used Bayesian conditional autoregressive models and relative-risk surface maps to examine spatial correlates and patterns of DR TB notifications. ResultsBetween October 2018 and February 2022, there were 693 individuals diagnosed with DR TB in KZN, South Africa. The rate of diagnoses per year was 274 and 155 prior and after to the initial lockdowns, respectively, corresponding to a 43 % decrease in the notification rate of cases. Compared to cases diagnosed before the lockdown, cases diagnosed after were less likely to have a fuel source for heating, piped water, a flush toilet, or own a phone (p-values≤0.02). Changes in notifications were not homogenously distributed, with predominantly rural northeastern and southwestern municipalities having significantly greater relative-risks after the lockdown. ConclusionsWe found a reduction in the rate of DR TB diagnoses after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and observed that individuals diagnosed after the lockdowns had worse living conditions, fewer household resources, and more adults living in their household compared to before the pandemic.

Association among Household Wealth, Maternal Employment, and Undernutrition in Children under Three Years of Age in Pakistan.

There is an abundance of studies explaining the separate impact of female employment and household wealth status in reducing malnutrition. However, our study has unraveled the combined impact of maternal employment and household wealth on undernutrition among children under three in Pakistan. Using a sample of 1093 children under three years of age from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017-2018, a binary logistic model was employed to gauge factors influencing the children's undernutrition. Our results indicated that children up to a certain age (three years old) with residence in certain regions (Pakistan) and recent episodes of diarrhea had an increased risk of undernutrition. Conversely, secondary and higher maternal education, access to improved water sources, and sanitation facilities lowered the chances of undernutrition in children under three in Pakistan. The interaction between maternal employment and household wealth showed that maternal employment significantly lowered the risk of stunting, being underweight, and wasting among the average, rich, and richest households; however, it did not contribute to child nutrition among the poorer and poor households. Notably, regardless of whether the mother was employed, the wealth status of being rich and richest reduced the risk of stunting, being underweight, and wasting. In overcoming undernutrition, maternal employment significantly contributed to middle-income households. However, in the richer and richest households, the wealth status played a more crucial role compared to the maternal employment. This indicates that while employment plays a supportive role in household resources, the wealth status is overall more influential in reducing undernutrition.

Typhoon-Induced Forest Damage Mapping in the Philippines Using Landsat and PlanetScope Images

Forests provide valuable resources for households in the Philippines, particularly in poor and upland communities. This makes forests an integral part of building resilient communities. This relationship became complex during extreme events such as typhoon occurrence as forests can be a contributor to the intensity and impact of disasters. However, little attention has been paid to forest cover losses due to typhoons during disaster assessments. In this study, forest damage caused by typhoons was measured using harmonic analysis of time series (HANTS) with Landsat-8 Operation Land Imager (OLI) images. The ΔHarmonic Vegetation Index was computed by calculating the difference between HANTS and the actual observed vegetation index value. This was used to identify damaged areas in the forest regions and create a damage map. To validate the reliability of the results, the resulting maps produced using ΔHarmonic VI were compared with the damage mapped from PlanetScope’s high-resolution pre- and post-typhoon images. The method achieved an overall accuracy of 69.20%. The accuracy of the results was comparable to the traditional remote sensing techniques used in forest damage assessment, such as ΔVI and land cover change detection. To further the understanding of the relationship between forest and typhoon occurrence, the presence of time lag in the observations was investigated. Additionally, different contributing factors in forest damage were identified. Most of the forest damage observed was in forest areas with slopes facing the typhoon direction and in vulnerable areas such as near the coast and hill tops. This study will help the government and forest management sectors preserve forests, which will ultimately result in the development of a more resilient community, by making it easier to identify forest areas that are vulnerable to typhoon damage.

Фінансові перешкоди впровадженню теплових насосів в централізованому теплопостачанні

The use of powerful industrial heat pumps (HP) is a fairly effective means of rational and environmentally friendly use of energy resources both in individual households and in district heating (DH), as well as in production processes in various industries. Powerful HPs are used in Ukraine much less than in developed European countries. In fact, these are isolated cases. The post-war reconstruction of destroyed cities with their district heating systems gives Ukraine a unique chance to use modern energy-efficient technologies, including HP. As a result, efficiency will improve and DH competitiveness will increase due to the low cost of thermal energy for consumers. Almost all developed countries of the world have government financial support for the HP implementation. The purpose of this study is to determine the level and form of government financial support for projects to implement HP in DHs of Ukraine. Financial modeling of the implementation of heat pump plants shown that they are more expediently to be used in the mode of generating thermal energy than in the mode of regulating the electric load of power systems. It is shown that the projects of heat pump plants, which use the heat of flue gases as a source of low-potential heat (LPH), are the most economically attractive and practically do not require government financial support. Projects of heat pump plants, which use air, ventilation emissions, waste water, soil and groundwater, sea, rivers, and waste heat of technological processes as LPH, are not financially attractive without government financial support, and some of them are even unprofitable. The most appropriate comprehensive financial support is tax incentives and interest compensation on the loan. Sensitivity analysis showed that projects for the implementation of heat pump plants may be the most sensitive to the amount of generated thermal energy, the price of natural gas and electricity. Keywords: heat pumps, low-potential heat sources, district heating, financial obstacles, tax incentives, grants.

Residents’ future residential preference and its affecting factors in the rapid urbanization zone of rural China from a family life cycle perspective

Understanding farmers’ future residential preferences and the factors affecting these choices is crucial for tackling the issues related to hollow village management and rural planning. Despite limited research on the role of the family life cycle, this study explores how the family life cycle, characteristics of the household head, livelihood strategies, and resource availability shape farmers’ future residential preferences. Data were collected from 777 households in China’s main grain-producing area. The findings reveal that 52.90% of households prefer to stay in their current rural residences. Other favored options are elderly care facilities (13.90%), living with children in the village (12.36%), and ancestral homes (11.68%). The family life cycle significantly affects these preferences (p < 0.01), with changes in family structure and age leading to different living choices. Specifically, households in the initial (71.29%), burden (70.32%), and stable stages (40.14%) prefer their current rural residences, while those in the maintenance and empty-nest stages opt for living with their children’s residences (22.22% and 16.96%, respectively) or in elderly care facilities (30.00% and 33.93%). Meanwhile, age, health, income, livelihood strategies, and land ownership also markedly influence the choice of residence. Recommendations include educational programs for elderly rural residents, improving older individuals’ adaptability to rural changes, creating more rural employment opportunities, and enhancing medical and infrastructural services for the sustainable rural development.

Circular additions to linear systems? Exploring Norwegian households' engagement with circularity in everyday life

The circular economy (CE) has gained a prominent position in the broader literature, discourse, and policy arenas concerned with sustainable production and consumption. With roots in industrial ecology, the goal of CE is to shift away from linear ‘take-make-waste’ systems towards a regenerative system where resource input and waste, emission, and energy leakage are minimised by slowing, closing, and narrowing material and energy loops, achieved through long-lasting design, maintenance, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishing, and recycling. Household consumption plays a central role in a shift towards the CE, but the complexities of consumption in everyday life are often overlooked in CE research. This article employs a practice theoretical lens to analyse the ways in which circularity is integrated into everyday life, for what purposes and with what effects. The data material consists of qualitative interviews with residents, and municipal and voluntary actors in Asker, Norway. We find that circularity was integrated by means of excitement and mastery, practical solutions, or financial savings on particular occasions, but was not necessarily considered a significant contributor to sustainability, nor did it replace linear forms of consumption. Households carved out space for circularity that largely left spatial or temporal rhythms of everyday life, established social norms, relations, or embodied knowledge unchallenged. Rather, circularity was integrated to maintain, rationalize, or simplify existing practices while upholding the throughput of household goods and resources, or pursue goals that had little to do with reduced resource use, representing circular additions to existing linear systems.

Own or public? Later livelihoods of Ukrainian war migrant households in Poland

AbstractThis paper presents empirical research on the livelihood resources of Ukrainian households that fled to Poland due to the Russian invasion and reside there long term. Using a nationwide sample of these households and an accurate econometric framework, we investigate the factors influencing the role of income from work, other private resources and public assistance in covering their living costs in exile. Our findings confirm the importance of public assistance addressed to professional activation and childcare for households' self‐reliance. Assistance from employers, housing conditions, intentions to settle permanently in Poland and financial responsibility for relatives in Ukraine are also among the decisive factors. However, sufficient monetary aid hinders households' self‐reliance, along with health problems, language barriers and a lack of professional qualifications. Household composition is also significant, as those with children face the most adverse outcomes. Based on our results, we provide recommendations for public authorities responsible for migration policy.

Planning With a Basic Income

Problem, research strategy, and findings The rapid growth of basic income programs in U.S. cities raises questions about the contributions of no-strings-attached cash payments to common equity planning goals. Drawing on a database of more than 100 basic income trials and interviews with 75 program designers and administrators, we evaluated basic income’s potential uses in planning. First, we analyzed evaluations of completed basic income trials, linking the policy’s effects to common equity planning goals. Second, we identified pathways from basic income trials to permanent policy and program reform. We found that large-scale, public basic income trials are likely to lead to reform in state-level social policy and that private and hybrid programs have multiple pathways for renewal, expansion, and replication. Takeaways for practice Planners can maximize the contributions of basic income programs to equity planning goals by distinguishing among the different capacities and scale-up options for public, private and hybrid programs. Practitioners focused on policy change and securing additional state resources for low-income households should prioritize publicly financed basic income trials and seek to translate basic income demonstrations into state-level policy change. Practitioners focused on “wicked” problems within narrowly defined subcommunities should focus on hybrid and private programs, which expand the capacities of community organizations and secure funding renewal from foundations. Important though these distinctions between programs are, all types of basic income programs contribute directly household resources, stability and capabilities, and all three types have led to either expanded basic income programs or the addition of no-strings-attached cash to other programs.

Can health financing programmes reduce food insecurity in a developing country?

Despite the devastating effects of out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures on households' financial outlays, which potentially stifle household resources needed for food consumption, the health financing program-food insecurity nexus is yet to receive much needed attention in the literature. This study makes a significant contribution by investigating the effect of health financing program, conceptualised as membership of a National Health Insurance Scheme, on household food insecurity using the food insecurity experience scale (FIES) and several quasi-experimental methods. Using data from the seventh round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey, our endogeneity-corrected results indicate that membership of a health financing program can contribute to reduction in household food insecurity. The results are robust to alternative conceptualisations of food insecurity and different quasi-experimental methods. The effect of health financing programme membership on food insecurity is more pronounced among urban and female-headed households. Our findings further point to household savings as an important channel through whichmembership ofhealth financing program reduces food insecurity.

Financial toxicity during pediatric cancer therapy: A qualitative analysis.

11056 Background: Childhood cancer treatment may often result in adverse financial consequences—also termed financial toxicity (FT)—for patients and families. Limited research has specifically examined mechanisms and drivers of FT salient to pediatric oncology. Methods: Using a phenomenological approach, we conducted in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of English- and Spanish-speaking parents of children receiving treatment for cancer at our institution. Parents were interviewed 6-18 months after a first cancer diagnosis, a period chosen to balance accumulation of financial challenges after treatment initiation with minimal recall bias. Interviews were coded by 3 investigators using an inductive, open-ended approach. We performed thematic analysis of interview transcripts focused on elucidating the main components of FT and relationships between them, identifying ameliorating and exacerbating factors, and exploring the impact of FT on patient and family well-being. We organized relationships between themes into a conceptual framework. Results: We interviewed 21 parents (86% mothers, 59% &gt;40 years old, 33% non-Hispanic White, 47% college-educated, 42% of those reporting had a household income of $50-100k, equal proportions above/below this). We identified 5 themes. Four themes pertained to primary elements of FT: (1) increased out-of-pocket spending, often related to additional caregiving and household coordination needs; (2) reduced income, primarily from employment changes inadequately covered by paid leave; (3) new material hardship, with families unable to afford costs of living when previously able to do so; and (4) elevated psychological distress regarding finances. We also identified an additional theme pertaining to response behaviors directed at managing FT, effects of which could be positive (“adaptive behaviors”), negative (“maladaptive behaviors”), or mixed. Response behaviors included reducing discretionary spending, selling off assets, skipping meals, requesting money from strangers, and rummaging through discarded items. Several exacerbating and ameliorating factors pertinent to the development of FT emerged, including household location, composition, wealth, employment flexibility, resource provision, and duration and severity of treatment. Parents provided perspectives regarding policies or interventions to mitigate FT, such as toolkits to better connect families with financial resources and extended paid family leave. Conclusions: Families of children with cancer face a wide range of financial toxicity throughout treatment, and many of these experiences differ considerably from those of adult patients. Many families reported substantial impact and unmet needs. These findings will help inform the design of quantitative measures specific to pediatric cancer and identify unique targets for intervention development and policy change for children with cancer.

Health Care Expenses and Household Resources for Families With Low Income

Health Care Expenses and Household Resources for Families With Low Income

Explaining adverse cholesterol levels and distinct gender patterns in an Indonesian population compared with the U.S.

Cardiovascular disease is among the most common causes of death around the world. As rising incomes in low and middle-income countries are accompanied by increased obesity, the burden of disease shifts towards non-communicable diseases, and lower-income settings make up a growing share of cardiovascular disease deaths. Comparative investigation of the roles of body composition, behavioral and socioeconomic factors across countries can shed light on both the biological and social drivers of cardiovascular disease more broadly. Comparing rigorously-validated measures of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol among adults in the United States and in Aceh, Indonesia, we show that Indonesians present with adverse cholesterol biomarkers relative to Americans, despite being younger and having lower body mass index. Adjusting for age, the gaps increase. Body composition, behaviors, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics that affect cholesterol do not explain between-country HDL differences, but do explain non-HDL differences, after accounting for medication use. On average, gender differences are inconsistent across the two countries and persist after controlling observed characteristics. Leveraging the richness of the Indonesian data to draw comparisons of males and females within the same household, the gender gaps among Indonesians are not explained for HDL cholesterol but attenuated substantially for non-HDL cholesterol. This finding suggests that unmeasured household resources play an important role in determining non-HDL cholesterol. More generally, they appear to be affected by social and biological forces in complex ways that differ across countries and potentially operate differently for HDL and non-HDL biomarkers. These results point to the value of rigorous comparative studies to advance understanding of cardiovascular risks across the globe.