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How gender norms shape the health of women and men?

Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This paper examines the impact of social norms on health disparities, a topic that has received limited attention. By combining two European cross-country datasets, we propose a novel approach to identify the effect of changes in social norms on individual health. We leverage the European Values Study (1999–2017, N = 41284) to construct time-varying measures of gender norms in the family and the work domains at the country-year level. These measures are then linked with the Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe (2004–2017; N = 32552) data, which is representative of the older population in Europe. We apply an OLS model, with individuals, country and time-fixed effects to investigate the role of norms on health status. Findings indicate that stronger traditional gender norms in the family likely increase depression among women, whereas more gendered norms at work decrease women's poor health reported. We disentangle some potential mechanisms to test the precise channel by which the type of norm leads to the selected outcomes: financial difficulties, smoking and drinking are among the most critical drivers. These results underscore the significance of gender norms in shaping health and emphasise the need to address them to reduce inequalities and improve societal well-being. • Gender norms can affect the health of men and women. • Traditional gender norms in families likely increase women's depression. • Gendered work norms reduce women's reporting of poor health. • Gender norms influence smoking and drinking, key channels of health disparities.
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118479
Institution: ETH Zurich
Language: English
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,800
OpenAlex ID: W4413115567
FWCI: 10.63
Cites: 60
Cited by: 6
Related to: 10