Page 202 - GHES-3-2

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability
Gender inequality and healthcare

time, as the proportion of political positions occupied by 3.4. Gender inequality, education, and health quality
women increased, the incidence of HIV among females The study also explores the association between gender
displayed a decreasing trend. parity in education and health. Figure 13 displays the gender
parity index in school enrollment and life expectancy for
males and females. The gender parity index is the ratio
A of female-to-male enrollment in primary and secondary
schools in a region. Life expectancy is significantly and
positively correlated with the gender parity index for
school enrollment. Female life expectancy exceeded male
life expectancy as the parity increased, suggesting that
increasing equity in school enrollment may have reduced
overall gender inequality in society and improved women’s
health.
Figure 14 displays the association between the
gender parity index in school enrollment (primary and
B secondary) and fertility rates by region. The size of the
circle corresponds to the fertility rate, while the color
intensity corresponds to the gender parity index in school
enrollment. Africa has the lowest gender parity index in
enrollment (indicating the lowest female enrollment rate),
but the highest fertility rate for women. Countries with
high gender parity in enrollment have a low fertility rate,
implying that increased female enrollment in schools is
correlated with lower fertility rates – an expected finding,
as the standard of living improves with education.
Figure 15 displays the average mortality rates for
Figure 6. Association between unemployment and mortality (from
cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory disease) males and females and the gender parity index for school
rates by gender and region for males (A) and females (B). enrollment by income level. For all income levels, the

Figure 7. Association between female unemployment rate (pink bars) and fertility rate (purple line)

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 194 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.5776