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Did Inequalities in Mothers’ and Children’s Health and Well-Being in Japan Increase Through the Pandemic? Evidence From Nationwide Surveys and Routinely Collected Data
Takeuchi, H.; Satoh, Y.; Raman, S.; Spencer, N. Did Inequalities in Mothers’ and Children’s Health and Well-Being in Japan Increase through the Pandemic? Evidence from Nationwide Surveys and Routinely Collected Data. Children2024, 11, 330.
Takeuchi, H.; Satoh, Y.; Raman, S.; Spencer, N. Did Inequalities in Mothers’ and Children’s Health and Well-Being in Japan Increase through the Pandemic? Evidence from Nationwide Surveys and Routinely Collected Data. Children 2024, 11, 330.
Takeuchi, H.; Satoh, Y.; Raman, S.; Spencer, N. Did Inequalities in Mothers’ and Children’s Health and Well-Being in Japan Increase through the Pandemic? Evidence from Nationwide Surveys and Routinely Collected Data. Children2024, 11, 330.
Takeuchi, H.; Satoh, Y.; Raman, S.; Spencer, N. Did Inequalities in Mothers’ and Children’s Health and Well-Being in Japan Increase through the Pandemic? Evidence from Nationwide Surveys and Routinely Collected Data. Children 2024, 11, 330.
Abstract
Marginalised families faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explores inequalities in Japanese mothers’ and children’s health and wellbeing and family economic stability before and during the pandemic. Data sources were: nationwide surveys in 2019 and 2021 of families with children using medical institutions across Japan; infant mortality and adolescent suicide rates between 2018 and 2021 from publicly available sources. Outcomes by poor and non-poor families were compared for 2019 and 2021 using simple descriptive statistics. Poor mothers' part-time working increased from 41% to 61% and regular employment was reduced by two-thirds. Well-being of poor mothers worsened from 39% to 55%. Employment opportunities and wellbeing did not change for non-poor mothers. School subsidies among poor families increased from 23% to 55%. The infant mortality rate (IMR) among unemployed families increased significantly from 12.9/1,000 to 18.2/1,000 between 2018 and 2021 compared with a decreasing overall IMR from 1.9/1000 to 1.7/1000. Suicide rates in 10-19 year olds increased over the same period although no socio-economic indicators were available. Inequalities in mothers’ and children’s health and well-being indicators and family economics increased between 2019 to 2021 in Japan. This study cannot attribute cause but suggests a possible role of the pandemic.
Keywords
Inequalities, mothers’ and children’s health and wellbeing, children’s capability, COVID-19, Japan
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
