Gender influences on child survival, health and nutrition: a ... - Unicef

<strong>Gender</strong> Influences On Child Survival, Health And Nutrition: A Narrative Review
improved care practices for their children. However there are also other important resources which may
also be allocated unevenly between women and men.
Researchers have drawn links between women’s access to and control over financial assets and
improved nutritional outcomes and health preventative behaviours for their children. For example
large-scale quantitative surveys conducted in the following countries found that:
‣ In Bangladesh parental asset statistics showed that a higher proportion of pre-wedding assets 5
held by mothers decreased the morbidity of preschool girl children (coefficient of illness days = -
2.317; z-score = -2.08). While a higher share of current assets held by father reduced preschool
boys’ morbidity (coefficient of illness days = -2.054; z-score = -1.94) (Hallman 2003);
‣ In Brazil income accruing to women had a larger positive impact on child nutritional status
(weight-for-height was 0.0329; height-for-age was 0.0255) in comparison with income accruing
to men (weight-for-height was 0.0040; height-for-age was 0.0058) measured as total Two-Stage
Least Squares (Thomas 1997);
‣ In India (in urban poor areas) the likelihood of children not receiving vaccinations was
significantly associated with a mother’s lack of financial autonomy (odds ratio=0.6267; 95%
confidence interval=0.4084-0.9615), and with lack of educational attainment (odds
ratio=0.2384; 95% confidence interval 0.0791-0.7178) (Agarwal & Srivastava 2009).
Box 4: Women’s purchasing power
A study undertaken in Benin combining quantitative and qualitative methods demonstrates one
of the pathways in which income in the hands of women may provide better outcomes for
children. Quantitative surveying of 191 households found that women’s income was one of the
key variables that predicted household use of a bed-net. Qualitative interviewing involving men
and women in sex-disaggregated Focus Group Discussions (23) and semi-structured interviews
(16) found that women who were able to earn income were more likely to purchase insecticidetreated
bed-nets which would then be available for use by their children. The study found on the
other hand that bed-nets which had been purchased by the male head of household were more
likely to be used by men themselves as they perceived their own need as greater, given their
breadwinning role in the household (Rashed et al. 1999).
REVIEW OF STUDIES
5 Household survey data from 47 villages in three rural areas in Bangladesh are used. Besides detailed information
on agriculture and nutrition, the survey also contains data on individual current asset holdings, premarital assets,
marriage transfer payments, and family background characteristics for husbands and wives. Resource control is
measured by maternal share of current assets, maternal share of premarital assets and maternal share of marriage
payments.
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