Is household shock a boon or bane to the utilisation of preventive healthcare for children? Evidence from Uganda.
Econ Hum Biol
; 52: 101333, 2024 Jan.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38101181
ABSTRACT
This paper investigates how poor households in low-income countries trade off time investment in their children's preventive healthcare vis-à-vis labour force participation during household-level health shocks. By using the reported illness or death of any household member as the indicator for an adverse health shock, I examine its effect on the intake of Vitamin A Supplementation (VAS) by children. Using four waves of the Uganda National Panel Survey, I find that children between 12-24 months are significantly more likely to get VAS when the household is under a health shock. I argue that this effect works through an economies of scale mechanism, by which the household adult(s) utilise the released time from the labour force during the shock to access remedial care from the healthcare facility and simultaneously obtain VAS for their children during the same visit. This arguably results from the high opportunity cost of time-constrained households, which is exacerbated by a mediocre service delivery side. To distinguish the unique mechanism of the health shock in this context, the effect and channels of an income shock are also explored. By proxying a negative income shock with the household-reported incidence of flood or drought, the study cautiously hints that VAS adoption may increase among the relatively wealthy who experience a dominating substitution effect of the income shock.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Composición Familiar
/
Renta
Límite:
Adult
/
Child
/
Humans
País/Región como asunto:
Africa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Econ Hum Biol
Asunto de la revista:
BIOLOGIA
/
CIENCIAS SOCIAIS
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
Pais de publicación:
Países Bajos