Resumen de Inequalities in health and health behaviours amongst couple and lone mothers: the influence of socioeconomic factors and social capital in spain and europe
This PhD research has three main aims: first, to design a conceptual framework for studying health inequalities amongst women who are mothers; secondly, to describe inequalities in health and health behaviours between couple and lone mothers in Spain; and lastly, to explore the relationship between social capital and lone mothers’ health in Europe. These objectives have been met through the publication of three papers, with data for Papers 2 and 3 drawn from the Spanish National Health Survey (waves 2003-2004 and 2011-2012) and the European Social Survey (2010), respectively. Paper 1 shows a conceptual framework that explains the processes and contexts that influence health inequalities amongst women who are mothers. Paper 2 points out that inequalities in health and health behaviours between couple and lone mothers exist in Spain amongst the manual social class, with lone mothers reporting worse health outcomes and health behaviours than couple mothers. However, changes in inequalities were not confirmed between 2003-2004 and 2011-2012. Findings of Paper 3 suggest a relationship between cognitive social capital and lone mothers’ health, although social capital does not seem to explain the cross-country variance observed in lone mother’s health across Europe.
