Gender Profile of Income and Consumption: Evidence From the National Transfer Accounts of Moldova

Abstract

The use of the National Transfer Accounts (NTA) methodology has opened up the possibility of examining gender differences in income and consumption throughout the life cycle. This article presents the results of the study of the gender profile of income and consumption based on the NTA of Moldova for 2019. Moldova is characterized by a low level of employment of the population, low incomes and a high involvement of the population in international labor migration. Women's labor incomes are lower than men's throughout the life cycle, and the life cycle surplus is entirely formed by men, who are net donors to cover the life cycle deficit of other age groups during the working period. More than two-thirds of the economic life cycle deficit is held by women, and the gender gap in economic dependence was 22.7% - an additional share of the total labor income needed to finance women's economic dependence compared to the total labor income needed to finance men's economic dependence. Differences in the age profile of working income are due to the fact that women enter the labor market a little later than men, due to much higher enrollment rates in higher education institutions, as well as due to low participation in the labor market during the period associated with the birth and upbringing of children. The economic dependence of women is a reflection of the “gender contract” characteristic of Moldova, according to which a man and a woman participate in the labor market, but the woman still has most of the household chores.” It can be assumed that the problem of underestimation of income by the population in the household survey could cause an underestimation of the age profile of labor income, which, in turn, influenced the estimation of the size of the economic life cycle deficit.

Impact of state of economic dependence and employment status on the self-perceived health of Indian elderly people across expenditure quintiles of households

“…Self-perceived health status has been taken as the dependent variable in the study. Although a study indicated that elderly Indians tend to report more positive perception of health than that indicated by objective measures (Cramm et al ., 2015), many suggest that although there are many factors like life and work pressure, spiritual status, interpersonal relations, level of education, material welfare and presence of behavioural vices which influence self-rated health, it is still a good reflector of objective health status (Wu et al ., 2013; Gagauz et al ., 2017). Self-rated health captures illness in a more inclusive manner, even the diseases yet to be diagnosed but present in a preclinical stage, and is also thought to be a dynamic evaluation of health, not only the current state of health, and a good predictor of mortality as well (Idler and Benyamini, 1997; Menec et al ., 1999; Rahman and Barsky, 2003).…”

“…In the case of India, by 2030 almost half of the disease burden will be borne by elderly people with high levels of non-communicable diseases, smoking habits and physical inactivity (Chatterji et al ., 2008; Munsur et al ., 2010). The regional case studies in India and other countries also reflect that the prevalence of unhealthy lifestyles is associated with morbidity among elderly people (Simsek et al ., 2014; Machón et al ., 2016; Gagauz et al ., 2017; Kaur et al ., 2017). Also there occurred a steady deterioration in self-perceived health status among Indian elderly people over the recent decades, even after controlling for socio-economic characteristics (Husain and Ghosh, 2010).…”

“…In the face of decaying family support systems, economic security emerges as one of the most important determinants of health status as economic dependence has made elderly people more vulnerable (Alam and Karan, 2011; Alam et al ., 2012; Gagauz et al ., 2017. Physical vulnerability in combination with economic vulnerability creates emotional vulnerability, which aggravates the self-perceived health status (Gupta and Sankar, 2003).…”

“…Along with economic dependence, the economic position of the households which the elderly people belong to always acted as a significant influencer on the health status of elderly people. The rich enjoy a better health status compared to the poor (Huisman et al ., 2003; Roy and Chaudhuri, 2008; Kowal et al ., 2010; Alam et al ., 2015; Gagauz et al ., 2017). Elderly people in upper expenditure quintiles are more likely to report better health compared to those in lower expenditure quintiles (Dhak, 2009) as elderly people in upper expenditure quintiles are better taken care of, provided with a healthier diet, less likely to face abuse and enjoy better health status compared to their counterparts in lower expenditure quintiles (Munsur et al ., 2010).…”

“…In the face of decaying family support systems, economic security emerges as one of the most important determinants of health status as economic dependence has made elderly people more vulnerable (Alam and Karan, 2011;Alam et al, 2012;Gagauz et al, 2017. Physical vulnerability in combination with economic vulnerability creates emotional vulnerability, which aggravates the self-perceived health status (Gupta and Sankar, 2003). Irrespective of gender and place of residence, economically independent elderly people in comparison to their dependent counterparts reported better health status (Gupta and Sankar, 2003;Rajan and Kumar, 2003;Roy and Chaudhuri, 2008;Alam, 2009;Mini, 2009;Ghosh and Husain, 2010).…”