Abstract
Objectives
We compared rates of smoking among those aged 45 years and older in Australia, the United States of America and South Korea, and examined cross-national gender differences in key socioeconomic differentials in smoking.
Methods
We conducted weighted analyses on cross-sectional data from nationally representative surveys conducted in 2006.
Results
Current smoking was more prevalent for males than females in all countries; the gender difference was largest in Korea. Being unpartnered increased the likelihood of smoking in all countries, while greater wealth reduced it. In Korea, these effects interacted with gender; both indicators showed larger differentials among women than men. Lower educational attainment increased the likelihood of smoking for all groups except Korean women, among whom high school educated women were less likely to smoke than the tertiary educated.
Conclusions
Our findings support a cultural interpretation of gender differences in smoking: in countries with low gender empowerment, gender differences in smoking are greater. With increasing divorce and female tertiary education rates in nations like Korea, we highlight the need for health promotion messages targeted towards older and more educated women.
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Acknowledgments
This paper uses unit record data of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The HILDA Project was initiated and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) and is managed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research (Melbourne Institute). The findings and views reported in this paper, however, are those of the author and should not be attributed to either FaHCSIA or the Melbourne Institute. Data from wave 8 of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) are used with permission. HRS is sponsored by the National Institute of Aging (Grant Number NIA U01AG009740) and conducted by the University of Michigan. Data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA) are used with permission. KloSA is conducted by the Korean Labor Institute and funded by the Korean Ministry of Labor through the Employment Insurance Fund. This research was supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council Centre for Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR) and by National Health and Medical Research Council Research Fellowship No. 366756 to the last author.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical standards
Each of the original studies included in this paper received appropriate institutional ethical approvals. Our study analyzed only de-identified data files, which did not require ethical approval. De-identified data were obtained and used with permission through registration with the appropriate organizations.
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French, D.J., Jang, SN., Tait, R.J. et al. Cross-national gender differences in the socioeconomic factors associated with smoking in Australia, the United States of America and South Korea. Int J Public Health 58, 345–353 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-012-0430-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-012-0430-5