Understanding how gender inequality may affect children’s health: An empirical study across 161 countries

Abstract

In the framework of the sustainable development goals, this study aims to answer the question of how the higher degree of gender inequality may affect children’s health. Study findings confirm statistically significant associations (P-value <0.001) between Gender Inequality Index (GII), and children’s health. It reveals that more than 33% of the variation in immunization rate in children under the age of five is explained by the rate of inequality between genders. This rate is relatively higher for the other studied variables. For example, 76% of the variation in the prevalence of anaemia in children is explained by the rate of inequality between genders, and almost 75% and 80% of the crude birth rate and neonatal mortality rate, respectively, are explained by rate of the inequality between genders. We further study the impact of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, as an index of national wealth, on GII. Results indicate that almost 76% of the variation in GII is explained by countries’ GDP per capita. This might shed some lights on the importance of gender equality in labour force participation, and narrowing the gap in gross salaries between women and men.