The following is my provisional dissertation topic: the dynamics of ethnicity, gender, bargaining and family decision-making in rural Guatemala using data from The 1995 Guatemalan Survey of Family Health (Encuesta Guatemalteca de Salud Familiar, EGSF). This survey was designed to examine the way in which rural Guatemalan families and individuals cope with childhood illness and pregnancy, and the role of ethnicity, poverty, social support and health beliefs in this process. The main objectives of the proposed research are: 1) to describe patterns of family decision-making for treatment of under-five childhood illnesses (MU and diarrhea) and pregnancy/delivery-related care; 2) to determine under what circumstances and in what ways modes of family decision-making explain health-seeking behaviors and health outcomes for child illness and pregnancy/delivery; 3) to examine if, and to what extent, women's bargaining power affects the probability of making autonomous health-related treatment decisions regarding child health; 4) to determine what child health outcomes are associated with autonomous decision-making by women.
