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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Clare BambraORCiD
This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by Wiley-Blackwell, 2014.
For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
This study examines whether health inequalities exist between lone and cohabiting mothers across Europe, and how these may differ by welfare regime. Data from the European Social Survey were used to compare self-rated general health, limiting long-standing illness and depressive feelings by means of a multi-level logistic regression. The 27 countries included in the analyses are classified into six welfare regimes (Anglo-Saxon, Bismarckian, Southern, Nordic, Central East Europe (CEE) (new EU) and CEE (non-EU). Lone motherhood is defined as mothers not cohabiting with a partner, regardless of their legal marital status. The results indicate that lone mothers are more at risk of poor health than cohabiting mothers. This is most pronounced in the Anglo-Saxon regime for self-rated general health and limiting long-standing illness, while for depressive feelings it is most pronounced in the Bismarckian welfare regime. While the risk difference is smallest in the CEE regimes, both lone and cohabiting mothers also reported the highest levels of poor health compared with the other regimes. The results also show that a vulnerable socioeconomic position is associated with ill-health in lone mothers and that welfare regimes differ in the degree to which they moderate this association.
Author(s): Van de Velde S, Bambra C, Van der Brecht K, Eikemo TA, Bracke P
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Sociology of Health and Illness
Year: 2014
Volume: 36
Issue: 8
Pages: 1220-1242
Print publication date: 01/11/2014
Online publication date: 03/12/2014
Acceptance date: 01/01/1900
Date deposited: 05/01/2017
ISSN (print): 0141-9889
ISSN (electronic): 1467-9566
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12162
DOI: 10.1111/1467-9566.12162
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