I. Gender in Low‐ and Middle‐income Countries: Introduction

Abstract

How do girls and boys in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMIC) in the majority world vary with respect to central indicators of child growth and mortality, parental caregiving, discipline and violence, and child labor? How do key indicators of national gender equity and economic development relate to gender similarities and differences in each of these substantive areas of child development? This monograph of the SRCD is concerned with central topics of child gender, gendered parenting, gendered environments, and gendered behaviors and socializing practices in the underresearched and underserved world of LMIC. To examine protective and risk factors related to child gender in LMIC around the world, we used data from more than 2 million individuals in 400,000 families in 41 LMIC collected in the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, a household survey that includes nationally representative samples of participating countries. In the first chapter of this monograph, we describe the conceptual “gender similarities” and “bioecological” frameworks that helped guide the monograph. In the second chapter, we detail the general methodology adhered to in the substantive chapters. Then, in topical chapters, we describe the situations of girls and boys with successive foci on child growth and mortality, parental caregiving, family discipline and violence, and child labor. We conclude with a general discussion of findings from the substantive chapters in the context of gender and bioecological theories. Across 41 LMIC and four substantive areas of child development, few major gender differences emerged. Our data support a gender similarities view and suggest that general emphases on early child gender differences may be overstated at least for the developing world of LMIC.

Pathways among Caregiver Education, Household Resources, and Infant Growth in 39 Low‐ and Middle‐Income Countries

“…For gender, we compared a model with no equality constraints between girls and boys with a model with equality constraints on the path coefficients. The differences in CFI values for the two models for infant height for age and infant weight for height were both 0.000, indicating that caregiver education had similar associations with the growth of infant girls and boys through household resources (see Bornstein, Putnick, Lansford, Deater‐Deckard, & Bradley, in press).…”

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of a Measure of Staff/Child Interaction Quality (the Classroom Assessment Scoring System) in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings and Child Outcomes

“…The possibility that there are thresholds of quality in terms of impacts on children is gaining attention from researchers. This is illustrated by the recent publication of a special issue on this topic [76]. However, one study that tested this possibility directly with the CLASS did not provide support for the threshold hypothesis for this measure [77].…”

A Developmental Analysis of Caregiving Modalities Across Infancy in 38 Low‐ and Middle‐Income Countries

“…However, the lives of girls and boys, and women and men may vary substantially across LMIC; therefore, we may not assume that girls and boys in LMIC are treated systematically differently. Some data from health, caregiving, and discipline suggest that young girls and boys in LMIC are treated more similarly than heretofore expected (Bornstein, Putnick, Lansford, Deater‐Deckard, & Bradley, in press).…”