abstract: 'Gender inequalities in health have been widely described, but few

  studies have examined the upstream sources of these inequalities in

  health. The objectives of this review are 1) to identify empirical

  papers that assessed the effect of gender equality policies on gender

  inequalities in health or on womens health by using between-country (or

  administrative units within a country) comparisons and 2) to provide an

  example of published evidence on the effects of a specific policy

  (parental leave) on womens health. We conducted a literature search

  covering the period from 1970 to 2012, using several bibliographical

  databases. We assessed 1,238 abstracts and selected 19 papers that

  considered gender equality policies, compared several countries or

  different states in 1 country, and analyzed at least 1 health outcome

  among women or compared between genders. To illustrate specific policy

  effects, we also selected articles that assessed associations between

  parental leave and womens health. Our review partially supports the

  hypothesis that Nordic social democratic welfare regimes and dual-earner

  family models best promote womens health. Meanwhile, enforcement of

  reproductive policies, mainly studied across US states, is associated

  with better mental health outcomes, although less with other outcomes.

  Longer paid maternity leave was also generally associated with better

  mental health and longer duration of breastfeeding.'
affiliation: 'Borrell, C (Corresponding Author), Agencia Salut Publ Barcelona, Placa
  Lesseps 1, Barcelona 08023, Spain.

  Borrell, Carme; Palencia, Laia; Malmusi, Davide, Agencia Salut Publ Barcelona, Hlth
  Informat Syst Unit, Barcelona 08023, Spain.

  Borrell, Carme; Palencia, Laia; Malmusi, Davide, CIBER Epidemiol \& Salud Publ CIBERESP,
  Madrid, Spain.

  Borrell, Carme; Palencia, Laia; Malmusi, Davide, IIB St Pau, Barcelona, Spain.

  Borrell, Carme, Univ Pompeu Fabra, Dept Expt \& Hlth Sci, Barcelona, Spain.

  Muntaner, Carles, Univ Toronto, Bloomberg Fac Nursing, Toronto, ON, Canada.

  Muntaner, Carles; Urquia, Marcelo; O''Campo, Patricia, St Michaels Hosp, Li Ka Shing
  Knowledge Inst, Ctr Res Inner City Hlth, Keenan Res Ctr, Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada.

  Muntaner, Carles; Urquia, Marcelo; O''Campo, Patricia, Univ Toronto, Dalla Lana
  Sch Publ Hlth, Div Social \& Behav Sci, Toronto, ON, Canada.

  Muntaner, Carles; Urquia, Marcelo; O''Campo, Patricia, Univ Toronto, Dalla Lana
  Sch Publ Hlth, Div Global Hlth, Toronto, ON, Canada.

  O''Campo, Patricia, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Populat Family \&
  Reprod Hlth, Baltimore, MD USA.'
author: Borrell, Carme and Palencia, Laia and Muntaner, Carles and Urquia, Marcelo
  and Malmusi, Davide and O'Campo, Patricia
author-email: cborrell@aspb.cat
author_list:
- family: Borrell
  given: Carme
- family: Palencia
  given: Laia
- family: Muntaner
  given: Carles
- family: Urquia
  given: Marcelo
- family: Malmusi
  given: Davide
- family: O'Campo
  given: Patricia
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1093/epirev/mxt002
eissn: 1478-6729
files: []
issn: 0193-936X
journal: EPIDEMIOLOGIC REVIEWS
keywords: 'health status; public policy; sex factors; socioeconomic factors; womens

  health'
keywords-plus: 'SELF-RATED HEALTH; MATERNITY LEAVE; MENTAL-HEALTH; MULTIPLE ROLES;
  LONE

  MOTHERS; WORK; EQUALITY; EMPLOYMENT; TIME; LIFE'
language: English
number: 1, SI
number-of-cited-references: '96'
orcid-numbers: 'Malmusi, Davide/0000-0003-1877-3581

  Borrell, Carme/0000-0002-1170-2505

  Urquia, Marcelo/0000-0002-8289-8090'
pages: 31-48
papis_id: 567344b83cd172e56842deaf903c3713
ref: Borrell2014influencemacrosocial
times-cited: '103'
title: Influence of Macrosocial Policies on Womens Health and Gender Inequalities
  in Health
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000329131500004
usage-count-last-180-days: '1'
usage-count-since-2013: '54'
volume: '36'
web-of-science-categories: Public, Environmental \& Occupational Health
year: '2014'