Women’s health: a benefit of education in Australia

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between education and health amongst Australian women. Design/methodology/approach This study uses the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia data set. Spouse’s education is employed as an instrument to solve the potential endogeneity of educational attainment. Findings The results indicate that an additional year of schooling can lead to an increase in self-reported health, physical health, mental health and a reduced likelihood of having long-term health conditions. Women who are not in the labour force are likely to enjoy higher benefits of education compared to their employed counterparts. The findings also suggest that the relationship between education and health can be explained by the extent of positive health behaviours and social capital as mediators. Research limitations/implications The conclusion from the results might be different in the case of men, reducing the generalisability of the results. Several objective health variables should be used to provide further aspects of health on which education has an impact. Practical implications As the positive effect of education on women’s health is empirically found, investment in women’s education should be seriously considered and reevaluated. Originality/value This paper focuses on Australian women which not only reduces the heterogeneity between genders but also adds to the rare number of studies on this topic in Australia. This paper also employs a formal mediation analysis to examine what are the mechanisms explaining the relationship between education and health.

The influence of education on women’s well-being: Evidence from Australia

“…However, the rate of returns to education may be underestimated when the non-monetary benefits of education are not taken into account [ 7 ]. Thus, more recently, economists have shifted their focus to the effect of education on many non-monetary outcomes, such as health [ 8 ], marriage [ 9 ], and subjective well-being [ 10 ].…”

“…Additionally, women tend to bear more domestic responsibilities such as child nurturing. A previous study shows that more erudite women have a high tendency to spend more time playing with their children, highlighting another benefit of education of the mothers on their children’s development [ 8 ]. Thus, happier women become more significant for a more flourishing home life, in aspects such as childcare.…”

“…In another study, the positive relationship between education and life satisfaction was attributed to improvements in income and health [ 16 ]. Moreover, more highly educated women tend to exhibit healthier patterns of behaviors, including engaging in more physical activity and smoking less [ 8 ]. Also, since highly educated individuals tend to value their family and friendships more than less educated people [ 10 ], they tend to spend more time with friends and relatives, gathering more mental support.…”

“…The study focuses on women in Australia, firstly, as education among Australian women is consistently rising [ 17 ], with an increasing rate of returns to education [ 18 ]. Higher levels of education allow women to access more employment opportunities, rather than simply in traditional jobs commonly indicated as “female jobs” [ 8 ]. Secondly, as women tend to have more domestic responsibilities, including housework, household errands, or childcare [ 19 ], their state of well-being may involve more determining factors such as maternal health, which may provide the basis for further research on this topic.…”

Providing Equity of Access to Higher Education in Indonesia: A Policy Evaluation

“…The human capital theory (Schultz, 1961(Schultz, & 1981 points to the formal education's role in increasing the labor productivity and producing various benefits, individual and societal. Though the higher education return for an individual is economically quantifiable via wages and lifetime earnings (Schultz, 1961;Becker, 1964), investing in people via education additionally provides measurable non-pecuniary benefits to health, fertility, consumption, savings, behavior and societal participation (Hartog & Oosterbeck, 1998;Doyle & Weale, 1994;Solmon, 1975;Becker, 1993;Tran, 2019). The social benefits and spillover effects are regularly reflected in improved public health, lesser crime and poverty, use of technology, and extended benefits to democracy, human rights, political stability, and environment (McMahon, 2010).…”