Table 1.
Socio-economic and household characteristics by the reproductive status of Syrian refugee mothers.
| Variables a | PM n = 77 |
LM n = 204 |
NPNLM n = 152 |
Total b n = 433 |
p-Value c |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socio-economic characteristics | |||||
| Age of the mothers (years) | 27.0 ± 5.2 | 26.7 ± 5.8 | 28.7 ± 6.1 | 27.4 ± 5.9 |
0.005
0.013 |
| <25 years | 32 (41.6) | 90 (44.1) | 48 (31.8) | 170 (39.4) | |
| 25 to 29 years | 18 (23.4) | 59 (28.9) | 41 (27.2) | 118 (27.3) | |
| 30 to 34 years | 22 (28.6) | 39 (19.1) | 35 (23.2) | 96 (22.2) | |
| ≥35 years | 5 (6.5) | 16 (7.8) | 27 (17.9) | 48 (11.1) | |
| Age of the children (months) | 23.0 ± 13.0 | 7.6 ± 6.3 | 25.9 ± 15.1 | 16.7 ± 14.3 |
<0.001
<0.001 |
| <6 months | 4 (5.2) | 100 (49.0) | 10 (6.6) | 114 (26.3) | |
| 6 to 23 months | 41 (53.2) | 99 (48.5) | 75 (49.3) | 215 (49.7) | |
| 24 to 59 months | 32 (41.6) | 5 (2.5) | 67 (44.1) | 104 (24.0) | |
| Child’s sex | 0.372 | ||||
| Male | 35 (46.1) | 107 (52.5) | 85 (55.9) | 227 (52.5) | |
| Female | 41 (53.9) | 97 (47.5) | 67 (44.1) | 205 (47.5) | |
| Marital status of the mother | 0.948 | ||||
| Engaged/ Divorced/Widowed | 1 (1.3) | 2 (1.0) | 2 (1.3) | 5 (1.2) | |
| Married | 75 (98.7) | 202 (99.0) | 150 (98.7) | 427 (98.8) | |
| Mother’s education level | 0.519 | ||||
| No schooling/Illiterate | 9 (11.7) | 35 (17.2) | 26 (17.4) | 70 (16.3) | |
| Primary, Intermediate school | 44 (57.1) | 122 (60.1) | 83 (55.7) | 249 (58.1) | |
| Secondary school and higher | 24 (31.2) | 46 (22.7) | 40 (26.8) | 110 (25.6) | |
| Father’s education level | 0.401 | ||||
| No schooling/Illiterate | 10 (13.0) | 30 (14.9) | 31 (20.4) | 71 (16.5) | |
| Primary, Intermediate school | 52 (67.5) | 140 (69.7) | 102 (67.1) | 294 (68.4) | |
| Secondary school and higher | 15 (19.5) | 31 (15.4) | 19 (12.5) | 65 (15.1) | |
| Mother’s employment status | 0.969 | ||||
| No paid job/Housewife | 75 (97.4) | 192 (97.0) | 147 (97.4) | 414 (97.2) | |
| Paid job (daily/part-/full-time) | 2 (2.6) | 6 (3.0) | 4 (2.6) | 12 (2.8) | |
| Father’s employment status | 0.627 | ||||
| No job/Part-time job | 39 (52.7) | 91 (46.4) | 73 (49.7) | 203 (48.7) | |
| Full-time job/ Self-employed | 35 (47.3) | 105 (53.6) | 74 (50.3) | 214 (51.3) | |
| Monthly household income | 0.455 | ||||
| ≤750,000 LBP | 51 (71.8) | 123 (63.7) | 95 (64.6) | 269 (65.5) | |
| >750,000 LBP | 20 (28.2) | 70 (36.3) | 52 (35.4) | 142 (34.5) | |
| Length of stay in Lebanon (years) | 3.2 ± 1.9 | 4.0 ± 3.8 | 4.0 ±2.2 | 3.8 ±3.0 | 0.130 |
| UNHCR refugee registration status | 0.313 | ||||
| No | 18 (23.7) | 35 (17.4) | 23 (15.5) | 76 (17.9) | |
| Yes | 58 (76.3) | 166 (82.6) | 125 (84.5) | 349 (82.1) | |
| If yes, received WFP food assistance (e-vouchers) * | 0.784 | ||||
| No | 53 (91.4) | 151 (91.5) | 112 (90.3) | 316 (91.1) | |
| Yes | 5 (8.6) | 14 (8.5) | 12 (9.7) | 31 (8.9) | |
| Receipt of any cash or food assistance | 0.243 | ||||
| No assistance | 68 (88.3) | 180 (88.7) | 125 (82.8) | 373 (86.5) | |
| Any type of assistance | 9 (11.7) | 23 (11.3) | 26 (17.2) | 58 (13.5) | |
| Reliance on savings or subsidies | 0.251 | ||||
| No reliance | 76 (98.7) | 192 (94.6) | 147 (96.7) | 415 (96.1) | |
| Any type of savings/subsidies | 1 (1.3) | 11 (5.4) | 5 (3.3) | 17 (3.9) | |
| Perception of safety | 0.012 | ||||
| Very to reasonably safe | 60 (77.9) | 151 (75.1) | 95 (62.5) | 306 (71.2) | |
| Somewhat to very unsafe | 17 (22.1) | 50 (24.9) | 57 (37.5) | 124 (28.8) | |
| Household characteristics | |||||
| Household type | 0.187 | ||||
| Nuclear family | 37 (48.1) | 102 (50.0) | 89 (58.6) | 228 (52.7) | |
| Extended family | 40 (51.9) | 102 (50.0) | 63 (41.4) | 205 (47.3) | |
| Decision-making/Head of household | 0.199 | ||||
| Father/ Family-in-law | 75 (97.4) | 194 (97.5) | 141 (94.0) | 410 (96.2) | |
| Mother/ Both parents | 2 (2.6) | 2 (2.5) | 9 (6.0) | 16 (3.8) | |
| Crowding index score | 4.0 ±2.0 | 3.6 ±1.6 | 3.7 ±1.5 | 3.7 ±1.6 | 0.189 |
| Number of children < 5 years per household | 2.4 ±1.8 | 2.7 ±1.5 | 2.8 ±1.5 | 2.7 ±1.5 | 0.327 0.024 |
| 1 to 2 | 53 (68.8) | 104 (51.2) | 75 (49.7) | 232 (53.8) | |
| 3 to 4 | 14 (18.2) | 76 (37.4) | 54 (35.8) | 144 (33.4) | |
| ≥5 | 10 (13.0) | 23 (11.3) | 22 (14.6) | 55 (12.8) |
PM: Pregnant mothers; LM: Lactating mothers; NPNLM: Non-pregnant non-lactating mothers; a Categorical variables are expressed as n(%) and continuous variables are expressed as mean ± SD. b Lack of corresponding sum of frequencies with total sample size is due to missing data. c Significantly different at p-value < 0.05 (in bold); p-value was derived using one-way ANOVA test for continuous variables and chi-square analysis for categorical variables. * One mother reported receiving food assistance from another source and was not registered with the UNHCR.