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When women eat last: Discrimination at home and women’s mental health

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  • Payal Hathi
  • Diane Coffey
  • Amit Thorat
  • Nazar Khalid

Abstract

The 2011 India Human Development Survey found that in about a quarter of Indian households, women are expected to have their meals after men have finished eating. This study investigates whether this form of gender discrimination is associated with worse mental health outcomes for women. Our primary data source is a new, state-representative mobile phone survey of women ages 18–65 in Bihar, Jharkhand, and Maharashtra in 2018. We measure mental health using questions from the World Health Organization’s Self-Reporting Questionnaire. We find that, for women in these states, eating last is correlated with worse mental health, even after accounting for differences in socioeconomic status. We discuss two possible mechanisms for this relationship: eating last may be associated with worse mental health because it is associated with worse physical health, or eating last may be associated with poor mental health because it is associated with less autonomy, or both.

Suggested Citation

  • Payal Hathi & Diane Coffey & Amit Thorat & Nazar Khalid, 2021. "When women eat last: Discrimination at home and women’s mental health," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-22, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0247065
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247065
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Behrman, Jere R. & Deolalikar, Anil B., 1988. "Health and nutrition," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 14, pages 631-711, Elsevier.
    2. Nandita Saikia & Moradhvaj & Jayanta Kumar Bora, 2016. "Gender Difference in Health-Care Expenditure: Evidence from India Human Development Survey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(7), pages 1-15, July.
    3. Seema Jayachandran & Ilyana Kuziemko, 2011. "Why Do Mothers Breastfeed Girls Less than Boys? Evidence and Implications for Child Health in India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(3), pages 1485-1538.
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    Cited by:

    1. Roscoe Conan D’Souza & Ignasi Martí, 2022. "Organizations as Spaces for Caring: A Case of an Anti-trafficking Organization in India," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(4), pages 829-842, May.
    2. Bau, Natalie & Khanna, Gaurav & Low, Corinne & Shah, Manisha & Sharmin, Sreyashi & Voena, Alessandra, 2022. "Women’s well-being during a pandemic and its containment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    3. Roscoe Conan d'Souza & Ignasi Marti, 2022. "Organizations as Spaces for Caring : A Case of an Anti-trafficking Organization in India," Post-Print hal-04381311, HAL.
    4. Harchand Ram & Srinivas Goli & M. Sripriya Reddy & Anu Rammohan, 2024. "Food Insecurity Among Older Adults in India: A Study of Disparities Across the Inter-sectional Axes of Caste, Poverty, and Gender," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 331-351, December.

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