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Table 1 Description of explanatory variables

From: Utilizing maternal healthcare services: are female-headed households faring poorly?

Variable

Nature

Description and coding

Headship characteristics

  

1. Sex of the household head (sexhhd)

Categorical

Headship, as reported in the survey. 0: male, 1: female

2. Relationship to the household head

Categorical

1: Head herself, 2: Spouse, 3: Daughter, 4: Daughter-in-law, 5: Others

Individual characteristics

  

3. Maternal age

Continuous

Age of the woman at the time of the survey

4. Woman’s educational attainment

Categorical

0: formal education, 1: primary education, 2: secondary education, 4: higher education

5. Parity

Continuous

Number of living children of the respondent.

6. Working Status of the respondent

Continuous

1: Respondent was working at the time of the survey, 0: Otherwise

7. Health Insurance coverage

Categorical

1: Covered by health insurance, 0: Otherwise

8. Possession of bank account

Categorical

1: Possession of an account in a bank or any other financial institution by the woman, 0: Otherwise

9. Exposure to mass media

Categorical

Measured using three indicators: Frequency of reading the newspaper/magazine, frequency of listening to the radio, and frequency of watching television. 1: Exposure to any two out of the three metrics, 0: Otherwise

10. Woman’s Participation Index

Categorical

Created out of three decision-making items in the household- the decision to spend on the respondent’s healthcare, the decision to spend on large household purchases, and the decision to visit relatives and friends. 1: Sole decision taker or takes the decision jointly with her spouse, 0: Otherwise

11. Sex of the last child

Categorical

1: Male, 2: Female

Household characteristics

  

12. Religion

Categorical

0: No Religion, 1: Hindu, 2: Muslim, 3: Christian, 4: Sikh, 5: other minority religion

13. Wealth Index

Categorical

1: Poorest, 2: Poorer, 3: Middle, 4: Richer, 5: Richest

14. Residence

Categorical

0: Urban, 1: Rural

Spouse Characteristics

  

15. Partner’s educational attainment

Categorical

0: No education, 1: Primary, 2: Secondary, 3: Higher

16. Partner’s age

Continuous

Age of the spouse at the time of the survey

Healthcare Provision

  

17. Type of facility

Categorical

0: Other, 1: Public facility, 2: Private facility

  1. Source Authors’ calculations