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Gender differentials and old age survival in the Nairobi slums, Kenya

Gender differentials and old age survival in the Nairobi slums, Kenya
Gender differentials and old age survival in the Nairobi slums, Kenya
This paper examines gender differentials in survival amongst older people (50+ years) in the Nairobi slums and to the best of our knowledge is the first study of its kind in an urban African setting. The results provide evidence contrary to the expected paradox of poorer self-rated health yet better survival amongst older women. Older women in the Nairobi slums have poorer self-rated health and poorer circumstances across other factors, including disability and socio-economic status. Further, older women in the slums do not have better survival. The conventional female advantage in mortality only becomes apparent after accounting for the cumulative influence of individual characteristics, social networks, health and socio-economic status, suggesting the female advantage in unadjusted old-age mortality does not apply to contexts where women experience significant disadvantage across multiple life domains. This highlights the urgent need to redress the support, status and opportunities available for women across the life course in contexts such as the Nairobi slums. In addition, a greater number of factors differentiate mortality risk amongst men than amongst women, suggesting inequality amongst slum dwelling older men and highlighting the need for gender sensitive interventions which account for the particular needs of both genders in old age.
0277-9536
107-116
Bennett, Rachel
53222607-43bd-46d3-9448-1599fd785ac0
Chepngeno-Langat, Gloria
4a386fed-03ca-4791-827a-ec7a7950530c
Evandrou, Maria
cd2210ea-9625-44d7-b0f4-fc0721a25d28
Falkingham, Jane
8df36615-1547-4a6d-ad55-aa9496e85519
Bennett, Rachel
53222607-43bd-46d3-9448-1599fd785ac0
Chepngeno-Langat, Gloria
4a386fed-03ca-4791-827a-ec7a7950530c
Evandrou, Maria
cd2210ea-9625-44d7-b0f4-fc0721a25d28
Falkingham, Jane
8df36615-1547-4a6d-ad55-aa9496e85519

Bennett, Rachel, Chepngeno-Langat, Gloria, Evandrou, Maria and Falkingham, Jane (2016) Gender differentials and old age survival in the Nairobi slums, Kenya. Social Science & Medicine, 163, 107-116. (doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.002).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This paper examines gender differentials in survival amongst older people (50+ years) in the Nairobi slums and to the best of our knowledge is the first study of its kind in an urban African setting. The results provide evidence contrary to the expected paradox of poorer self-rated health yet better survival amongst older women. Older women in the Nairobi slums have poorer self-rated health and poorer circumstances across other factors, including disability and socio-economic status. Further, older women in the slums do not have better survival. The conventional female advantage in mortality only becomes apparent after accounting for the cumulative influence of individual characteristics, social networks, health and socio-economic status, suggesting the female advantage in unadjusted old-age mortality does not apply to contexts where women experience significant disadvantage across multiple life domains. This highlights the urgent need to redress the support, status and opportunities available for women across the life course in contexts such as the Nairobi slums. In addition, a greater number of factors differentiate mortality risk amongst men than amongst women, suggesting inequality amongst slum dwelling older men and highlighting the need for gender sensitive interventions which account for the particular needs of both genders in old age.

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Accepted/In Press date: 2 July 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 4 July 2016
Published date: August 2016
Organisations: Gerontology, Faculty of Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 408642
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/408642
ISSN: 0277-9536
PURE UUID: b9c492a4-1d11-43cd-abda-1aa601510f65
ORCID for Gloria Chepngeno-Langat: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6782-363X
ORCID for Maria Evandrou: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2115-9358
ORCID for Jane Falkingham: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7135-5875

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Date deposited: 25 May 2017 04:03
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:48

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Contributors

Author: Rachel Bennett
Author: Maria Evandrou ORCID iD
Author: Jane Falkingham ORCID iD

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