Gender differences in health: Evidence from the Czech Republic

Gender differences in health have been linked to gender stratification in the United States. Womenʹs relation to production, paid and unpaid work, and their experience of this gender inequality disadvantage their self-rated health compared to men. Menʹs consumption or health lifestyles disfavors their comparative health. This formulation is tested in the Czech Republic with a sample of matched wives and husbands (N = 577 households). This extends previous research in the United States on gender differences in health in two ways: into post-communist Europe and by comparing paired wives and husbands. Respondents completed questionnaires in 1994 on their health and well-being, jobs and finances, non-economic life events, marriage, psychological states, opinions about the changes in the Czech Republic, and socioeconomic background. Wives and husbands filled out separate questionnaires. The relation to production (both the objective relation and its subjective experience) did not impair wivesʹ self-reported health any more than that of their husbands, and husbandsʹ consumption or health lifestyles did not put them at a health disadvantage. Interpretations of these findings rest on both the extension of the study into post-communist Europe and by comparing matched wives and husbands.