2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

Home Events & Meetings Annual Meeting Schedule & Program

Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

325910
Gender as a significant predictor of monthly income inequalities among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon


Monday, November 2, 2015 : 2:50 p.m. - 3:10 p.m.

Sawsan Abdulrahim, PhD, Department of Health Promotion and Community Health Faculty of Health Sciences American University of Beirut, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
Fatima Ghaddar, MD, MPH, Department of Health Promotion and Community Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Background:The topic of gender wage inequalities remains inadequately researched in the Arab world. Given that women’s education in the region has improved, the question of whether it diminishes (or augments) the gender wage gap deserves exploration through a critical feminist lens. 

Objective:We assessed gender inequality in monthly income among employed Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, controlling for education and occupational status.

Methods:We used data from the 2011 Palestinian Labour Force survey.  Our analyses were limited to employed men (n=2017) and women (n=449), 21 years and older.  We tested mean income differences between men and women in different education and occupation-related categories. Linear regression models were specified to test whether gender continues to be a significant predictor of income after controlling for education and other important variables.

Results: Employed Palestinian refugee women exhibited a more favorable educational profile compared to employed men. However, at every educational level, women earned a significantly lower mean monthly income compared to men.  The gender wage gap was highest among those with secondary (~ $199) or university education (~ $145).  In regression models, gender continued to be a statistically significant predictor of lower monthly income, after controlling for education and occupation-related variables (β = - $115; p-value<0.001). 

Discussion: Despite the more favorable educational profile of employed Palestinian women, they earn lower relative monthly income compared to men.  This relative income decreases with increasing education.  The structural nature of gender inequality in Arab societies persists beyond providing equal opportunity for education.

Learning Areas:

Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Identify statistically significant differences in mean monthly income between Palestinian men and women of similar demographic characteristics, educational levels and occupation-related characteristics Identify gender as an important predictor of mean monthly income among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, after controlling for other relevant predictors

Keyword(s): Gender, Workforce

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have made substantial intellectual contribution to the material presented in the abstract through reviewing literature on the topic and performing all the biostatistical analyses in the abstract.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3398.0: Without borders or boundaries: Implications for global women's health