Gender disparity: family health benefits from higher education

AimConsidering gender differences, clarifying the nexus and pathways between higher education and family health can provide empirical evidence for policy implementation.MethodsAdopting nationwide large-scale data collected from China in 2022 (n = 15,352), we explored the differences in family health benefits from higher education by gender with the college enrollment expansion policy as an instrumental variable. Mediating effect analysis was used to clarify the pathways between higher education and family health.ResultsThere is a positive association between higher education and family health (& beta; = 0.096, p < 0.01). Gender disparities exist in family health benefits from higher education (& beta; = -0.112, p < 0.001), and women can generate more family health benefits through higher education (& beta; = 0.114, p < 0.001 vs. & beta; = 0.043, p < 0.05). With higher education, women can bring more family health benefits via behavioral and economic pathways. However, highly educated women have worse psychological status, which will impair family health, while highly educated men build a broader social network, which will enhance family health.ConclusionThe pathways should be expanded for women to increase family health benefits from higher education. Traditional gender roles should be transformed to encourage men and women to share family responsibilities. More psychosocial support should be provided for highly educated women in pursuit of self-value while achieving family well-being.