Despite a measured strong cross-sectional relationship between income and health, the study finds no necessary connection between changes in income inequality and changes in health inequality.

Read more in:

Janet Currie, Hannes Schwandt & Josselin Thuilliez: “Pauvreté, Egalité, Mortalité: mortality (in)equality in France and the United States”
Journal of Population Economics, online, in print.

Journal Website. Paper Access.

GLO Fellow Hannes Schwandt

Author Abstract: We develop a method for comparing levels and trends in inequality in mortality in the United States and France between 1990 and 2010 in a similar framework. The comparison shows that while income inequality has increased in both the United States and France, inequality in mortality in France remained remarkably low and stable. In the United States, inequality in mortality increased for older groups (especially women) while it decreased for children and young adults. These patterns highlight the fact that despite the strong cross-sectional relationship between income and health, there is no necessary connection between changes in income inequality and changes in health inequality.

Ends;