Socioeconomic Status Women Research Articles

Processing valence and intensity of infant expressions: The roles of expertise and gender

Several studies have provided evidence of a women's better accuracy in interpreting emotional states. Despite this difference is generally ascribed to the primary role of female gender in the affective relation with the offspring, to date, little information is available regarding gender differences in the ability to interpret infant facial expressions. In the present study, we examined the roles of gender and expertise in interpreting infant expression in 34 men and women who differed in their experience with infants. Women showed a significantly higher level of decoding accuracy compared to men. Expertise positively affected facial expressions decoding among women only. Our results suggest that in judging emotional facial expressions of infants, there is an interaction of biological (i.e., gender) and cultural factors that is independent of a woman's socioeconomic status.

Prevalence, Perpetrators, and Characteristics of Witnessing Parental Violence and Adult Dating Violence in Latina, East Asian, South Asian, and Middle Eastern Women

The present study describes and compares the prevalence, perpetrators, and characteristics of witnessing parental violence during childhood and experiencing adult relationship violence in 251 college-educated South Asian/Middle Eastern (n = 93), East Asian (n = 72), and Latina (n = 86) women residing in the United States. Results showed that more than 50% of each ethnic group witnessed parental and adult relationship violence. For all three groups, adult psychological violence was more prevalent than physical violence, which, in turn, was more prevalent than injury violence. Significant differences were found for paternal and maternal psychological, physical, and injury violence witnessed within ethnic groups. High prevalence rates and significant differences emerged for psychological, physical, and injury violence experienced as a victim and enacted as a perpetrator within ethnic groups. The implications of college-educated, higher socioeconomic status (SES) women of color being at risk for witnessing and experiencing family violence are discussed.

Country of birth and hospitalization for pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, endometriosis, and infertility: a nationwide study of 2 million women in Sweden

To examine the association between country of birth and hospitalization for pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), ectopic pregnancy (EP), endometriosis, and infertility. Follow-up study. Sweden. A total of 2,170,177 women living in Sweden at some point between 1990 and 2004, categorized into 10 different groups according to country of birth. None. Hospitalization for PID, EP, endometriosis, and infertility. For PID and infertility, all groups of foreign-born women exhibited significantly increased risks compared with Swedish-born women. The highest risks of PID were found among women from southern Europe, Eritrea/Ethiopia/Somalia, and other African countries, whereas the highest risks of infertility were found among women from Middle Eastern countries, other Asian countries, and other African countries. Compared with PID and infertility, country of birth was less associated with endometriosis and EP, although some differences were found. All relative risks were adjusted for age, time period, and the women's socioeconomic status. Even in a country like Sweden, which offers publicly financed treatment for infertility, differences based on country of birth exist. Although data on partners' income were not available to us, it is possible that other factors besides socioeconomic factors are present in the etiology of female health problems related to infertility.

The Gendered Nature of Natural Disasters: The Impact of Catastrophic Events on the Gender Gap in Life Expectancy, 1981–2002

Natural disasters do not affect people equally. In fact, a vulnerability approach to disasters would suggest that inequalities in exposure and sensitivity to risk as well as inequalities in access to resources, capabilities, and opportunities systematically disadvantage certain groups of people, rendering them more vulnerable to the impact of natural disasters. In this article we address the specific vulnerability of girls and women with respect to mortality from natural disasters and their aftermath. Biological and physiological differences between the sexes are unlikely to explain large-scale gender differences in mortality rates. Social norms and role behaviors provide some further explanation, but what is likely to matter most is the everyday socioeconomic status of women. In a sample of up to 141 countries over the period 1981 to 2002 we analyze the effect of disaster strength and its interaction with the socioeconomic status of women on the change in the gender gap in life expectancy. We find, first, that natural disasters lower the life expectancy of women more than that of men. In other words, natural disasters (and their subsequent impact) on average kill more women than men or kill women at an earlier age than men. Since female life expectancy is generally higher than that of males, for most countries natural disasters narrow the gender gap in life expectancy. Second, the stronger the disaster (as approximated by the number of people killed relative to population size), the stronger this effect on the gender gap in life expectancy. That is, major calamities lead to more severe impacts on female life expectancy (relative to that of males) than do smaller disasters. Third, the higher women's socioeconomic status, the weaker is this effect on the gender gap in life expectancy. Taken together our results show that it is the socially constructed gender-specific vulnerability of females built into everyday socioeconomic patterns that lead to the relatively higher female disaster mortality rates compared to men.

Gender Roles and Women's Sleep in Mid and Later Life: A Quantitative Approach

Women in mid and later life report particularly poor quality sleep. This article suggests a sociologically-informed quantitative approach to teasing out the impact of women's roles and relationships on their sleep, while also taking into account women's socio-economic characteristics and health status. This was accomplished through analysis of the UK Women's Sleep Survey 2003, based on self-completion questionnaires from a national sample of 1445 women aged over 40. The article assesses the ways in which three central aspects of women's gender roles: the night-time behaviours of their partners, night-time behaviours of their children, and night-time worries – impact on women's sleep, while also considering how disadvantaged socio-economic circumstances and poor health may compromise women's sleep. Using bivariate analysis followed by hierarchical multiple regression models, we examine the relative importance of different aspects of women's gender roles. The key factors implicated in the poor sleep quality of midlife and older women are their partner's snoring, night-time worries and concerns, poor health status (especially experiencing pain at night), disadvantaged socio-economic status (especially having lower educational qualifications) and for women with children, their children coming home late at night.

Development of a proxy wealth index for women utilizing emergency obstetric care in Bangladesh

There are increasing concerns regarding inequities in access to health care, and hence calls for routine data collection to improve monitoring. For many developing countries, such as Bangladesh, increasing the availability and uptake of emergency obstetric care (EmOC) is vital in improving maternal health. It is crucial, however, that women of all socio-economic status benefit from this. This paper describes the development and validation of a proxy wealth index for assessing women's socio-economic status in Bangladesh as they are admitted to hospital. Existing poverty assessment tools are unsuitable for use in this context as they are too lengthy or need to be administered at household or community level. We sought to develop a tool with a limited number of indicators to allow quick administration and avoid interference with treatment. We also aimed to develop a pragmatic tool to be able to calculate a score in the field. The steps, involving selecting and weighting indicators, assigning a proxy wealth score and validating the score, are outlined. Indicators were selected from the Bangladeshi Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data, which allowed comparison of socio-economic status between women using EmOC and those in the wider population. The tool proved quick and easy to use and was acceptable to women and their families. The validity of the tool was established by means of factor analysis. Our comparison with DHS data suggested that women using EmOC were significantly wealthier than women in the wider population. The implications of this, as well as the strengths and limitations of the proxy wealth index, are discussed. The proxy wealth index offers potential as a pragmatic and quick means of assessing poverty status in a busy hospital setting. Such a tool may enable monitoring of equity in access to treatment and identification of those least able to afford treatment, to enable any mechanisms in place to pay for care to be applied in a timely fashion, so avoiding delays in treating life-threatening complications.

Socioeconomic status of women attending an oncogenetic counseling clinic

1526 Background: In women with a family history (FH) of breast cancer the risk can be substantially increased and starts at an earlier age compared with the general population. Women with FH of breast cancer are not suggested oncogenetic counselling unless the subject is brought up in the contact with medical professionals. Consequently, a woman with FH for breast cancer has to have knowledge about the possibility of counselling to come into question for information, advice and special surveillance program. The aim of this study was to characterize women at an oncogenetic counselling clinic in terms of socioeconomic status (SES) and to compare these data with population based figures from the same catchment area. Methods: All healthy women who had, once or repeatedly, been visiting the oncogenetic clinic at the Department of Oncology, Karolinska University Hospital / Sodersjukhuset, between April, 1998 - June, 2004 were eligible for study. A total of 307 out of 378 consecutive women consented to participate (81%) in the survey by returning mailed questionnaires. SES data were compared with official data for all women aged 24 -75 year from the same catchment area (n= 277 783 women). Results: See table . Conclusions: Women visiting the oncogenetic counselling clinic were higher educated, more often married and had a better economic situation than comparable women from the same catchment area. These findings indicate that efforts should be elaborated to increase the knowledge about the possibility of genetic counselling among women with FH for breast cancers. [Table: see text] No significant financial relationships to disclose.

The effect of maternal socio‐economic status throughout the lifespan on infant birthweight

The objective of this study was to investigate whether maternal socio-economic status during childhood and at the time of pregnancy each have unique associations with infant birthweight when biological determinants of birthweight are controlled. The data are from a three-generation study which contains information on the mothers and grandmothers of 987 singleton infants, collected over a period of 25 years. We used simple and multivariable regression to assess the association between indicators of a woman's socio-economic status and her offspring's birthweight. Women who grew up in poor households had smaller babies than those who did not, and a unit increase in the income/needs ratio (analogous to the poverty index), in non-poor households only, was associated with a 185 g [95% CI 70, 200] increase in infant birthweight. Maternal age at the index infant's birth had a positive association with birthweight that diminished as women reached their mid-twenties. Among mothers with low education, high grandmaternal education was associated with a 181 g [95% CI 71, 292] increase in infant birthweight, while high grandmaternal education had no effect among infants whose mothers were relatively well-educated. This interaction between grandmaternal and maternal education is consistent with claims that cumulative stress is an important mechanism connecting maternal socio-economic status and infant health.

Maternal factors in the etiology of fetal malnutrition in Nigeria

The main objective of the study was to determine the role of maternal factors in the etiology of fetal malnutrition (FM) in Nigeria. Neonatal and Maternity Units of the Wesley Guild Hospital Ilesa, Nigeria, a unit of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife was the setting for the study. This was a prospective study of consecutive, singleton, term live babies delivered between January and August 2001. Fetal malnutrition was diagnosed using Clinical Assessment of Fetal Nutritional Status (CANS) and the score (CANSCORE) adapted by Metcoff. The maternal prenatal record was checked and additional history was obtained from the mother. This included history of maternal illness and drugs taken during pregnancy. The socioeconomic class of the parents was also documented. Nutritional status of the mother was determined using mid arm circumference (MAC) and the body mass index (BMI). Babies were stratified into babies with FM and babies without FM. The two groups of babies were compared. Of the 473 studied, 89 [18.8%] had FM. Maternal factors found associated with FM were: lack of antenatal care, young mother (<18 years), primiparity, maternal undernutrition (BMI < 18.5 kg/m(2) and MAC < 23.5 cm), low socioeconomic status, pregnancy-induced hypertension, antepatum hemorrhage, and maternal infections especially malaria, urinary tract infections and HIV (P < 0.05). Improvement in the socioeconomic status of women and good antenatal care will reduce most of the maternal factors associated with FM in Nigeria. Therefore, antenatal should be made cheap and accessible to all pregnant mothers.

Trends in knowledge of emergency contraception among women in California, 1999–2004

To examine trends in knowledge of emergency contraception (EC) and determine whether disparities in knowledge have persisted over time. This study is based on 6 years of the California Women's Health Survey, a population-based telephone survey. We examine predictors of EC knowledge among 11,998 women age 18-44. Between 1999 and 2004, the percentage of women aware of EC increased from 40-57%. Despite this increase, disparities in EC knowledge based on women's age, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status persist. Foreign-born Hispanic women, women whose income falls below the poverty level, and women who did not complete high school reported the lowest levels of EC knowledge in 2004. Education efforts may increase overall knowledge of the method. However, efforts must tailor these messages to women who may be outside the reach of traditional media and remain unaware of EC.

Under the Weather: Health, Schooling, and Economic Consequences of Early-Life Rainfall.

We examine the effect of early-life rainfall on the health, education, and socioeconomic outcomes of Indonesian adults. We link historical rainfall for each individual's birth year and birth location with adult outcomes from the 2000 Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS). Higher early-life rainfall has large positive effects on the adult outcomes of women, but not of men. Women with 20 percent higher rainfall (relative to the local norm) are 0.57 centimeters taller, complete 0.22 more schooling grades, and live in households scoring 0.12 standard deviations higher on an asset index. Schooling attainment appears to mediate the impact on adult women's socioeconomic status. (JEL I12, I21, J16, O15)

Under the Weather: Health, Schooling, and Socioeconomic Consequences of Early-Life Rainfall

How sensitive is long-run individual well-being to environmental conditions early in life? This paper examines the effect of weather conditions around the time of birth on the health, education, and socioeconomic outcomes of Indonesian adults born between 1953 and 1974. We link historical rainfall for each individual's birth year and birth location with current adult outcomes from the 2000 wave of the Indonesia Family Life Survey. Higher early-life rainfall has large positive effects on the adult outcomes of women, but not of men. Women with 20% higher rainfall in their year and location of birth attain 0.14 centimeters greater height, finish 0.15 more years of schooling, live in households with 5.2% higher expenditures per capita, and have spouses with 5.1% higher earnings. These patterns most plausibly reflect a positive impact of rainfall on agricultural output, leading to higher household incomes and better health for infant girls. We present suggestive evidence that eventual benefits for adult women's socioeconomic status are mediated by improved schooling attainment, which leads to higher spousal quality, which in turn improves socioeconomic status. Adult women's education and health do not appear to have direct effects on their socioeconomic status apart from indirect effects via spousal quality.

Degree Completion Among Nontraditional College Students*

Objective. With the growing number of older students attending college, one major issue concerning these nontraditional students is their overall low completion rates. We examine factors affecting nontraditional students' degree completion.Methods. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we examine the effects of student characteristics on the probability of finishing college with event history models.Results. Part‐time enrollment significantly deters college completion, whereas the number of prior enrollments facilitates it. Being relatively young, having high cognitive ability, and a high‐status occupational background also increase the chance of completion, but these effects partly differ by gender. On the other hand, being divorced and having young children, the factors often negatively associated with women's socioeconomic status, suppress degree completion for both genders.Conclusions. Based on these results, we discuss how higher educational institutions and employers might be able to help increase the rate of completion among nontraditional students.

Attitudes toward the discontinuation of female genital cutting among men and women in Guinea

Objective To investigate socioeconomic correlates of and gender differences in attitudinal support for the discontinuation of FGC in Guinea. Method Data from structured interviews of men aged 15–59 and women aged 15–49 years in the 1999 Demographic and Health Survey and multiple logistic regression methods were used to examine the relationship of socioeconomic factors and gender to attitudinal support for the discontinuation of FGC. Result More than 9 out of 10 women had undergone FGC. Attitudinal support for FGC discontinuation was more prevalent among men than women. The odds of supporting the discontinuation of FGC were negatively related to beliefs in social approval of and religious support for FGC and its enhancement of women's marriageability, the number of perceived advantages of FGC, and women's low socioeconomic status. Conclusion Community education, improvements in women's socioeconomic status and traditional and religious leader involvement would be critical for FGC eradication.

Resources, Family Organization, and Domestic Violence Against Married Women in Minya, Egypt

I evaluate the influence of household wealth, women's socioeconomic dependence, status inconsistency, and family organization on physical abuse in the prior year and attitudes about wife abuse and divorce among 2,522 married women in Minya, Egypt. Household wealth is negatively associated with physical abuse. Women who are dependent on marriage because they have sons and less schooling than their husbands are more likely to have experienced physical abuse and to report marginally more tolerance for such abuse. Women who are isolated from natal or biological kin and living with marital relatives are more likely to have experienced physical abuse. Findings underscore the role of women's dependence and social isolation in enabling physical abuse among women of all economic classes.

The Persistence of Traditional Gender Roles in the Information Technology Sector: A Study of Female Engineers in India

As women in India enter the rapidly expanding Information Technology (IT) workforce, it could be predicted that their active participation in this sector will change their socio-economic status within the employing organization and the communities in which they reside. It is often expected that women's participation in the professional realm will contribute to a breakdown of traditional gender roles. And indeed, the data illustrate that women are working in the IT sector in India in increasing numbers. However, data collected in 1992 and again in 2002 by the Indian Institute of Technology suggest that not only does women's participation fail to occur at the same speed as IT expansion, but that their participation is based on a continuation of traditional gender roles, which places women on the periphery of an employing organization. Questioning the paradigm of technological determinism, this paper examines how technology and its development can adapt to the existing social structure. The persistence of such gender divides perpetuate the notion of gender segregation and do not enhance women's socio-economic and political status, nor provide equal participation in the information economy.

Steps for preventing infectious diseases in women.

Communicable diseases account for approximately 25% of deaths in most Latin American and Caribbean countries; illness from communicable diseases reaches 40% in developing countries. Mainly affected are poor women in rural areas. A medical approach is not sufficient to implement effective infectious disease prevention strategies in women, which would offset these numbers. Health policies must be changed, and social restrictions that circumscribe women need to be eliminated. In the long run, the only solution is to improve women's socioeconomic status. The following three steps are necessary for developing a prevention strategy: 1) a gender perspective must be incorporated into infectious disease analysis and research to target policies and programs. Data collected must be disaggregated by sex, age, socioeconomic status, education, ethnicity, and geographic location; 2) models must be developed and implemented that address gender inequities in infectious diseases in an integrated manner; and 3) outreach activities must be supported, using information, education, and communication strategies and materials for advocacy and training. Active participation of civil society groups is key to translating the strategy into specific interventions.

Access to colposcopy services for high-risk Canadian women: can we do better?

Despite overall decreasing mortality from cervical cancer, selected groups of Canadian women continue to have suboptimal access to diagnostic and treatment interventions for cervical cancer. In this paper, we present an evaluation of a colposcopy program developed to improve attendance for colposcopy in a lower socio-economic and immigrant population. All women attending the North Hamilton Community Health Centre (CHC) who required colposcopic assessment and were referred to a newly developed colposcopy program based at the CHC were evaluated. Attendance rates for consultation, follow up and treatment in women referred for colposcopy were compared retrospectively for the CHC-based colposcopy program and concurrently with the regional colposcopy clinic (RCC). Women referred to the CHC colposcopy program had a significant reduction in their no-show rate after the introduction of the locally based colposcopy program (17.2% vs. 1.3%, p<0.01). Comparing the same time periods, there was no significant reduction in the default rate at the RCC (2.5% vs. 3.3%, p=0.21). Despite serving a population of women who were at higher risk for non-attendance, patients at the CHC had a default rate for appointments similar to that of the RCC (1.3% vs. 3.3%, p=0.55) after the introduction of the local colposcopy program. Lower socio-economic status and immigrant women receiving care from a CHC-based colposcopy program had a significant decrease in their no-show rate for colposcopic evaluation after the introduction of the on-site program. Consideration must be given to locating diagnostic colposcopy programs in settings more accessible to women who require these services the most.

Obesity and inequities in health in the developing world

To update the social distribution of women's obesity in the developing world and, in particular, to identify the specific level of economic development at which, if any, women's obesity in the developing world starts to fuel inequities in health. Multilevel logistic regression analyses applied to anthropometric and socioeconomic data collected by nationally representative cross-sectional surveys conducted from 1992 to 2000 in 37 developing countries within a wide range of world regions and stages of economic development (gross national product (GNP) from 190 to 4440 US dollars per capita). : In total, 148 579 nonpregnant women aged 20-49 y. Body mass index to assess obesity status; quartiles of years of education to assess woman's socioeconomic status (SES), and GNP per capita to assess country's stage of economic development. Belonging to the lower SES group confers strong protection against obesity in low-income economies, but it is a systematic risk factor for the disease in upper-middle income developing economies. A multilevel logistic model-including an interaction term between the country's GNP and each woman's SES-indicates that obesity starts to fuel health inequities in the developing world when the GNP reaches a value of about 2500 US dollars per capita. For most upper-middle income economies and part of the lower-middle income economies, obesity among adult women is already a relevant booster of health inequities and, in the absence of concerted national public actions to prevent obesity, economic growth will greatly expand the list of developing countries where this situation occurs.

Roles de la migration dans la transformation des rapports de genre dans les villages du Mati-Sud

ABSTRACT Since the 1950s, sub-Saharan Africa has been the scene of major migratory movements by both men and women. Mali is one of the main sources of emigrants. This paper tests whether migration is a means for south Malian women to improve their economic status (entrepreneurial opportunities, control over more income, reduced income disparity between men and women) and social status (household management, personal autonomy). The benefits in terms of gender relations are, however, limited to the period of active migration. We conclude that women must accompany their spouses to benefit from migration but that regardless of the migration decision, education can improve the socioeconomic status of women.