Government, healthcare and gender

Abstract

Female parliamentarians are known to prioritize social, and welfare needs in their agenda. Previous studies have found that female representatives in politics lead to increased spending on education, as well as healthcare for the poor. Increased expenditure in healthcare benefits everyone in a society. This study aims to identify whether increases in female representatives in national parliamentarians influence the general government expenditure on healthcare. The paper analyzes cross-sectional time-series data for 29 countries from 2000-2018 within the Latin American and Caribbean region. To examine the relationship between the proportion of seats in national parliaments held by women and government healthcare expenditure, a panel regression model is utilized. The study finds a highly significant positive relationship between the two variables. The overall findings of this paper suggest that national governments should implement policies directed at increasing gender parity in their national parliaments.