Which is not the major difference between rural and urban women

The status of women is intimately connected with their economic situation depending upon the opportunity for participation in economic activities. The census data, 2011 shows a vast inequality between rural and urban women work participation as urban women associated with economic activities is just about half of the rural women. Available pieces of the literature revealed how the employment status of women makes them empower, but limited research has been conducted on the comparison of women empowerment in the rural-urban area in different dimensions. In this perspective, assuming that women’s economic empowerment is dependent on work participation, the present study attempts to compare the magnitude of women’s economic empowerment in urban India with its rural counterpart, focusing on various dimensions of work participation. This study is entirely based on secondary databases collected from the Census of India, 2011 and Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2019-20. Economic Empowerment Index (EEI) of women has been measured with the help of women work participation, literate women work share, educational level-wise women work participation, work share by married women and job profile wise women work share using the widely adopted normalization technique. The result of the study is showing that the rural women are more engaged in the workforce in all the selected dimensions. The overall analysis is reflected in EEI, which proves that rural women are more economically empo...

Background International data suggest that living in a rural area is associated with an increased risk of perinatal mental illness. This study tested the association between rurality and risk for two mental illnesses prevalent in perinatal women - depression and anxiety. Methods Using a cross-sectional design, antenatal and postnatal women were approached by healthcare professionals and through other networks in a county in Northern England (UK). After providing informed consent, women completed a questionnaire where they indicated their postcode (used to determine rural-urban status) and completed three outcome measures: the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), the Whooley questions (depression measure), and the Generalised Anxiety Disorder 2-item (GAD-2). Logistic regression models were developed, both unadjusted and adjusted for potential confounders, including socioeconomic status, social support and perinatal stage. Results Two hundred ninety-five participants provided valid data. Women in rural areas ( n = 130) were mostly comparable to their urban counterparts ( n = 165). Risk for depression and/or anxiety was found to be higher in the rural group across all models: unadjusted OR 1.67 (0.42) 95% CI 1.03 to 2.72, p = .038. This difference though indicative did not reach statistical significance after adjusting for socioeconomic status and perinatal stage (OR 1.57 (0.40), 95% CI 0.95 to 2.58, p = .078), and for social support (OR 1.65 (0.46),...

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Methodology, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing * E-mail: Affiliations Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States of America, Office of Health Equity (OHE), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Rockville, Maryland, United States of America Background Rural health disparities and access gaps may contribute to higher maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. Understanding and addressing access barriers for specialty women’s health services is important in mitigating risks for adverse childbirth events. The objective of this study was to investigate rural-urban differences in health care access for women of reproductive age by examining differences in past-year provider visit rates by provider type, and quantifying the contributing factors to these findings. Methods and findings Using a nationally-representative sample of reproductive age women (n = 37,026) from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2010–2015) linked to the Area Health Resource File, rural-urban differences in past-year office visit rates with health care providers were examined. Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analysis quantified the portion of disparities explained by individual- and county-level sociodemographic and provider supply characteristics. Overall, there were no rural-urban differences in past-year visits with women’s health providers collectively (65.0% vs 62....

Reducing poverty and inequality in rural areas: key to inclusive development 20 May 2021 Introduction Extreme poverty is mainly a rural phenomenon. Four of every five people below the $1.90-a-day international income poverty line lived in rural areas in 2013 (Castañeda and others, 2018). Over the last decades, however, there has been tremendous progress in reducing rural poverty, partly as a result of successful policies promoting economic opportunities for the rural poor and expanding social protection in rural areas. This progress has not been equitable across the board. The same economic forces that reduce poverty, including rural development and urbanization, can increase inequalities. Moreover, poverty is now rising due to the COVID-19 crisis. All evidence points to increasing inequality as well. The pandemic and subsequent lockdown measures have affected urban areas disproportionately but have had a substantial impact on rural residents. Travel and transport restrictions disrupt the livelihoods of the rural poor, many of whom depend on mobility, seasonal and migrant work and remittances. In some countries, there has been a massive return of migrants to rural areas, largely due to job loss. This policy brief focuses on the linkages between poverty and inequality in rural areas. It illustrates that rural poverty and rural inequalities, although interlinked, follow different dynamics. The brief concludes by discussing policies that promote inclusive development in rural...