Abstract

The gendered distribution of unpaid care, including care for those who are ill or recovering, is an issue that affects women’s bargaining power around the world. In cardiovascular surgeries, patients are sent home earlier or go through cheaper surgeries with longer recovery time to reduce hospital and family costs. For a patient to recover fully, someone has to take care of them at home. Chile already offers an alternative, TAVI or shorter recovery surgery (SRS). However, due to its high financial costs, families still undergo through SAVR or longer recovery surgery (LRS), leading to hidden costs that may negatively affect women. This article will answer two questions: (a) How do gender roles influence who is taking on responsibilities for the care of recovering patients in the household? (b) How does the increase in household un- paid care work associated with LRS affect gender inequality? A survey conducted in a Chilean hospital found that caregivers for an LRS patient had a mean caregiving time that was approximately 3 times longer than SRS, 71 percent of the caregivers were women, 62.5 percent of the respondents thought women were better at caregiving, and 80 percent of the respondents feel responsible for their parents’ care. Secondly, a econometrics study using the Chilean National Time Use Survey (ENUT) found that the probability of women making the consumption decisions within the household increases as their percent share of care responsibilities for the elderly increases. Later, the study uses other measurements of bargaining power such as if the women was able to meet with friends, have leisure time, and their satisfaction levels on how care and household work is distributed. Results show that an increase in the percent share of care responsibilities has a decrease in the probability of women meeting with friends, engage in leisure activities, and being on a higher satisfaction level. However, these results were only significant for the friends variable.

Advisor

Long, Melanie

Department

Economics

Disciplines

Econometrics | Growth and Development | Health Economics | Political Economy | Public Economics

Publication Date

2025

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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