TY - JOUR
T1 - The association between a living wage and subjective social status and self-rated health
T2 - A quasi-experimental study in the Dominican Republic
AU - Landefeld, John C.
AU - Burmaster, Katherine B.
AU - Rehkopf, David H.
AU - Syme, S. Leonard
AU - Lahiff, Maureen
AU - Adler-Milstein, Sarah
AU - Fernald, Lia C.H.
PY - 2014/11/1
Y1 - 2014/11/1
N2 - Poverty, both absolute and relative, is associated with poorer health. This is of particular concern in middle- and low-income countries facing a significant and growing burden of disease. There has been limited research specifically on whether interventions that increase income may foster better health outcomes. The establishment of a "living wage" apparel factory in the Dominican Republic provided a minimum income standard for factory workers, thus creating a natural experiment through which to study the effects of increased income on health indicators. The primary component of the intervention was a 350% wage increase, but apparel workers in the intervention factory also received education and professional development and were exposed to an enhanced occupational health and safety program. Workers at the intervention factory (. n=99) were compared with workers at a matched apparel factory (. n=105). Data were collected via in-person interviews in July and August of 2011, which was 15-16 months after workers were initially hired at the intervention site. Primary analyses used employment at the intervention factory as the independent variable and examined associations with two dependent variables: subjective social status and self-rated health. Results showed that receiving a 350% higher wage was associated with substantially higher subjective social status scores, as well as higher global and comparative self-rated health scores; effects were strongest in women. Subjective social status and self-rated health are associated with future health outcomes, so these results indicate that income increases for apparel workers may have positive long-term health outcomes, particularly for women.
AB - Poverty, both absolute and relative, is associated with poorer health. This is of particular concern in middle- and low-income countries facing a significant and growing burden of disease. There has been limited research specifically on whether interventions that increase income may foster better health outcomes. The establishment of a "living wage" apparel factory in the Dominican Republic provided a minimum income standard for factory workers, thus creating a natural experiment through which to study the effects of increased income on health indicators. The primary component of the intervention was a 350% wage increase, but apparel workers in the intervention factory also received education and professional development and were exposed to an enhanced occupational health and safety program. Workers at the intervention factory (. n=99) were compared with workers at a matched apparel factory (. n=105). Data were collected via in-person interviews in July and August of 2011, which was 15-16 months after workers were initially hired at the intervention site. Primary analyses used employment at the intervention factory as the independent variable and examined associations with two dependent variables: subjective social status and self-rated health. Results showed that receiving a 350% higher wage was associated with substantially higher subjective social status scores, as well as higher global and comparative self-rated health scores; effects were strongest in women. Subjective social status and self-rated health are associated with future health outcomes, so these results indicate that income increases for apparel workers may have positive long-term health outcomes, particularly for women.
KW - Dominican Republic
KW - Factory workers
KW - Health inequalities
KW - Income
KW - Socioeconomic status
KW - Subjective social status
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U2 - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.09.051
DO - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.09.051
M3 - Article
C2 - 25442370
AN - SCOPUS:84908053234
VL - 121
SP - 91e97-97
JO - Ethics in Science and Medicine
JF - Ethics in Science and Medicine
SN - 0277-9536
ER -