Improvements in children’s health: Does inequality matter?

Abstract

Abstract:The literature on the contributions to poverty reduction of average improvements in living standards vs. distributional changes uses only one measure of well-being --income or expenditure. Given that poverty is defined by deprivation over different dimensions, we explore the role of average improvements and distributional changes in children's health and nutrition using the height of young children as our measure of well-being. Similar to the income literature, we find that shifts in the mean level of heights, not changes in distribution, account for most improvements in heights. Unlike the literature on income inequality, however, there is a positive association between improvements in average heights and reduced dispersion of those heights.1

Gender Analysis of Malnutrition: A Case Study of School-Going Children in Bahawalpur

“…However, mother's education imparts a significant role in children's nutritional status. It is supported by the studies (Sahn and Younger, 2005). The explanation is based on the fact that educated women marry late than illiterate ones.…”

“…It cannot be assured that all children and household members have the same level of wellbeing (Sahn and Younger, 2005). The children's nutritional status in the perspective of household poverty may differ for male and female children.…”

Weights on the rise: where and for whom?

“…But it is difficult to interpret higher orders of dominance, especially greater than three. 7 Previous work using this approach to measure health inequality includes Sahn and Younger [16]; Pradhan, Sahn, and Younger [14]; LeGrand [8]; and Murray, Gakidou, and Frenk [11]. Thomas, Wang, and Fan [20]; and Lopez, Thomas, and Wang [9] develop an analogous concept of an education Gini index based on school attainment data for working-age adults.…”

Inequality and Poverty in Africa in an Era of Globalization: Looking Beyond Income to Health and Education

“…Using a cutoff point of six years of schooling for our headcount measure, we find a statistically significant decline in school poverty in 21 out of 41 spells, a worsening in two cases (Nigeria between 1986and 1990and Rwanda between 2000and 2005, and no change in the remainder of the cases. Most notable improvements were seen in Kenya and Zimbabwe across multiple spells.…”