Social policies and the pathways to inequalities in health: a comparative analysis of lone mothers in Britain and Sweden
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Social policies and the pathways to inequalities in health : a comparative analysis of lone mothers in Britain and Sweden. / Whitehead, M; Burström, B; Diderichsen, Finn.
I: Social Science & Medicine, Bind 50, Nr. 2, 2000, s. 255-70.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Social policies and the pathways to inequalities in health
T2 - a comparative analysis of lone mothers in Britain and Sweden
AU - Whitehead, M
AU - Burström, B
AU - Diderichsen, Finn
PY - 2000
Y1 - 2000
N2 - The aim of this study is to contribute to the emerging field of health inequalities impact assessment. It develops further a conceptual framework that encompasses the policy context as well as the pathways leading from social position to inequalities in health. It then uses this framework for a comparative analysis of social policies and their points of potential impact on the pathways leading from lone motherhood to ill health in Britain and Sweden. The British General Household Survey and the Swedish Survey of Living Conditions are analysed for the 17 years from 1979 to 1995/96. First, the results show that the health of lone mothers is poor in Sweden as well as in Britain and, most notably, that the magnitude of the differential between lone and couple mothers is of a similar order in Sweden as in Britain. This is despite the more favourable social policies in Sweden, which our results indicate have protected lone mothers from poverty and insecurity in the labour market to a much greater degree than the equivalent British policies over the 1980s and 1990s. Second, the pathways leading to the observed health disadvantage of lone mothers appear to be very different in the two countries in relation to the identified policy entry points. Overall, in Britain, around 50% of the health disadvantage of lone mothers is accounted for by the mediating factors of poverty and joblessness, whereas in Sweden these factors only account for between 3% and 13% of the health gap. The final section discusses the implications of the findings for future policy intervention and research in the two countries.
AB - The aim of this study is to contribute to the emerging field of health inequalities impact assessment. It develops further a conceptual framework that encompasses the policy context as well as the pathways leading from social position to inequalities in health. It then uses this framework for a comparative analysis of social policies and their points of potential impact on the pathways leading from lone motherhood to ill health in Britain and Sweden. The British General Household Survey and the Swedish Survey of Living Conditions are analysed for the 17 years from 1979 to 1995/96. First, the results show that the health of lone mothers is poor in Sweden as well as in Britain and, most notably, that the magnitude of the differential between lone and couple mothers is of a similar order in Sweden as in Britain. This is despite the more favourable social policies in Sweden, which our results indicate have protected lone mothers from poverty and insecurity in the labour market to a much greater degree than the equivalent British policies over the 1980s and 1990s. Second, the pathways leading to the observed health disadvantage of lone mothers appear to be very different in the two countries in relation to the identified policy entry points. Overall, in Britain, around 50% of the health disadvantage of lone mothers is accounted for by the mediating factors of poverty and joblessness, whereas in Sweden these factors only account for between 3% and 13% of the health gap. The final section discusses the implications of the findings for future policy intervention and research in the two countries.
KW - Cross-Cultural Comparison
KW - Delivery of Health Care
KW - Female
KW - Great Britain
KW - Health Care Surveys
KW - Health Services Accessibility
KW - Health Status
KW - Humans
KW - Mothers
KW - Poverty
KW - Public Policy
KW - Single Parent
KW - Socioeconomic Factors
KW - Sweden
U2 - 10.1016/s0277-9536(99)00280-4
DO - 10.1016/s0277-9536(99)00280-4
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 10619694
VL - 50
SP - 255
EP - 270
JO - Social Science & Medicine
JF - Social Science & Medicine
SN - 0277-9536
IS - 2
ER -
ID: 40344764