Page 49 - IJPS-11-6

International Journal of
Population Studies Gender gaps in reporting limitations

Another potential reason is that women may be more We further explored reporting heterogeneity in work
accustomed to managing multiple roles that involve both disability assessments across demographic groups in the
paid and unpaid labor, leading them to develop a higher U.S. and Europe, leveraging vignette-based approaches and
threshold for considering a health condition as work- the HOPIT model. We found that in addition to gender,
limiting. Research has suggested that women are more racial/ethnic background, education, and employment
likely than men to work through illness or adapt their status significantly influence reporting thresholds, leading
work routines to accommodate health issues, whereas men to variability in self-reported disability rates. In the U.S.,
may be more prone to withdrawing from work-related women applied stricter thresholds for assessing work
tasks when faced with similar conditions (Rice et al., limitations compared to men, whereas in Europe, women
2011; Sarrasanti et al., 2020). This difference in adaptation demonstrated similar behavior, particularly for milder
strategies could contribute to the observed reporting and moderate limitations. Differences in reporting by
heterogeneity. race and ethnicity in the U.S. reveal that Non-Hispanic
Black respondents applied lower thresholds, reflecting
A third factor relates to psychological and cognitive
biases in self-assessment of health and disability. Women the broader implications of systemic inequities. In
tend to provide more nuanced and detailed health addition, respondents with lower educational attainment
assessments, while men are more likely to use more showed contrasting patterns depending on the severity of
extreme categories in self-reported measures (Benyamini limitations, underscoring the interaction between social
et al., 2000; Phillips et al., 2023). This pattern suggests that and cognitive factors in shaping reporting behaviors.
women may have a more gradual classification of disability The gender differences in reporting thresholds
severity, whereas men may be more inclined to assign observed in both regions may be explained by variations in
higher severity ratings to work limitations when they do health perception and cultural expectations. Women often
acknowledge them. This aligns with previous findings that perceive and express health-related issues differently due
women often underreport severe health issues, particularly to societal norms and caregiving roles, leading to stricter
in occupational settings where resilience and perseverance thresholds when assessing health limitations (Macintyre et
are culturally reinforced among female workers (Campos- al., 1999; Oksuzyan et al., 2014). In the European context,
Serna et al., 2013). the gender gap’s emergence between 2004 and 2006 may
reflect the influence of policy reforms that reshaped societal
Furthermore, cross-national variations in disability
reporting may be influenced by institutional and policy attitudes toward disability and workability (Yin et al.,
differences that shape gendered experiences of work and 2022). These findings reinforce earlier studies highlighting
health. Countries with stronger social safety nets and more the complex interactions between policy environments
comprehensive workplace accommodations may provide and self-reported health data (Angelini et al., 2011; Jürges,
environments in which men and women report disabilities 2007).
differently. Women in these contexts may feel less pressure The racial and ethnic disparities in reporting thresholds
to define health conditions as work-limiting, while men observed in the U.S. align with existing literature on the
in systems with more rigid employment structures may impact of structural inequities. Non-Hispanic Black
be more likely to report disabilities that justify their respondents’ lower thresholds for classifying severe
withdrawal from work (Biswas et al., 2022). limitations may reflect cumulative exposure to chronic
Finally, the robustness of the findings across two stress and inequitable healthcare access (Gee & Ford, 2011;
waves of data suggests that reporting heterogeneity is Sternthal et al., 2011). These findings are consistent with
not a static phenomenon but instead changes over time. theories suggesting that chronic exposure to adversity can
This is in line with previous longitudinal studies that lead marginalized individuals to normalize or underreport
show that self-perceptions of disability are influenced by health limitations as an adaptive coping response (Williams
changing labor market conditions, health trajectories, and & Mohammed, 2013).
shifting societal attitudes toward gender roles in work and Educational attainment emerged as a crucial factor
family life (Babik & Gardner, 2021; Hiebert et al., 2024). influencing reporting behaviors. Respondents with lower
The fact that accounting for these reporting differences education levels exhibited stricter thresholds for mild
largely diminishes the gender gap in self-reported work limitations but more permissive thresholds for severe
limitations underscores the importance of using methods limitations. This could stem from differences in health
that adjust for reporting heterogeneity to obtain more literacy, which influences the interpretation of vignettes
accurate assessments of gender disparities in disability and and the articulation of health limitations (Friedman
employment. et al., 2020). The more flexible reporting patterns observed

Volume 11 Issue 6 (2025) 43 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.1969