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Couples’ reports of household decision-making and the utilization of maternal health services in Bangladesh

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  • Story, William T.
  • Burgard, Sarah A.

Abstract

This study examines the association between maternal health service utilization and household decision-making in Bangladesh. Most studies of the predictors of reproductive health service utilization focus on women’s reports; however, men are often involved in these decisions as well. Recently, studies have started to explore the association between health outcomes and reports of household decision-making from both husbands and wives as matched pairs. Many studies of household decision-making emphasize the importance of the wife alone making decisions; however, some have argued that joint decision-making between husbands and wives may yield better reproductive health outcomes than women making decisions without input or agreement from their partners. Husbands’ involvement in decision-making is particularly important in Bangladesh because men often dominate household decisions related to large, health-related purchases. We use matched husband and wife reports about who makes common household decisions to predict use of antenatal and skilled delivery care, using data from the 2007 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. Results from regression analyses suggest that it is important to consider whether husbands and wives give concordant responses about who makes household decisions since discordant reports about who makes these decisions are negatively associated with reproductive health care use. In addition, compared to joint decision-making, husband-only decision-making is negatively associated with antenatal care use and skilled delivery care. Finally, associations between household decision-making arrangements and health service utilization vary depending on whose report is used and the type of health service utilized.

Suggested Citation

  • Story, William T. & Burgard, Sarah A., 2012. "Couples’ reports of household decision-making and the utilization of maternal health services in Bangladesh," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(12), pages 2403-2411.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:75:y:2012:i:12:p:2403-2411
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.09.017
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    8. Pulok, Mohammad Habibullah & Sabah, Md Nasim-Us Sabah & Uddin, Jalal & Enemark, Ulrika, 2015. "Progress in utilization of antenatal and delivery care services in Bangladesh: Where does the equity gap lie?," MPRA Paper 63496, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Garcia, Italo Lopez & Fernald, Lia C.H. & Aboud, Frances E. & Otieno, Ronald & Alu, Edith & Luoto, Jill E., 2022. "Father involvement and early child development in a low-resource setting," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
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    11. Panu Poutvaara & Maximilian Schwefer, 2018. "Husbands’ and wives’ diverging perceptions on who decides," ifo Working Paper Series 279, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
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    14. Selamah Yusof, 2015. "Household Decision-Making in Malaysia: The Ethnic Dimension," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 283-293, October.
    15. Kathryn M. Yount & Kristin E. VanderEnde & Sylvie Dodell & Yuk Fai Cheong, 2016. "Measurement of Women’s Agency in Egypt: A National Validation Study," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 1171-1192, September.
    16. Bussolo,Maurizio & Sarma,Nayantara & Williams,Anaise Marie, 2021. "It Takes Two (To Make Things Right) : Women's Empowerment and Couple Concordance in South Asia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9545, The World Bank.
    17. Allison Ruark & Rachel Chase & John Hembling & Valerie Rhoe Davis & Paul Clayton Perrin & Dorothy Brewster-Lee, 2017. "Measuring couple relationship quality in a rural African population: Validation of a Couple Functionality Assessment Tool in Malawi," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(11), pages 1-19, November.
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