Gender contexts, dowry and women’s health in India: a national multilevel longitudinal analysis

Abstract

Abstract Gender-biased contexts may impact women’s lives across a variety of domains. This study examined whether changes in district prevalence of a salient gendered practice – dowry – are associated with changes in poor health for women in India. Two waves of national multilevel panel data were used to assess the relationship between changes in district-level dowry prevalence and changes in self-rated health for 23,785 ever-married women aged 15–50 years. Increased dowry prevalence was found to be associated with increased poor self-rated health for women. This relationship remained when controlling for potentially confounding factors including household socioeconomic status, caste, infrastructure, mobility and state fixed-effects.