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Persistence despite action? Measuring the patterns of health inequality in England (1997–2007)

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  • Costa Font, Joan
  • Hernández-Quevedo, Cristina
  • McGuire, Alistair

Abstract

The persistence of socioeconomic inequalities in health is a major policy concern in England, which was addressed by the new labour government in 1997 which prioritised curtailing health inequalities as a policy goal. This paper addresses two related questions: first, it empirically examines the dynamic patterns of socioeconomic inequalities in health in England from 1997 to 2007 by estimating concentration indices over three measures of health, namely self-reported health, long standing illness and health limitations, calculated across different years of the Health Survey for England. Second, using regression based decomposition analysis, we explore whether specifically prioritised areas (spearhead local authority areas in the bottom fifth nationally on health indicators) exhibit a different pattern of inequality in the years following a (2005) targeted intervention. Results suggest that patterns of health inequalities in England exhibit no significant variation from 1997 to 2007, although importantly, some reduction on inequalities in health, measured through self-assessed health, is found. Patterns of socioeconomic inequalities in health in spearhead areas are not found to be significantly different than health inequalities in non-spearhead areas.

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  • Costa Font, Joan & Hernández-Quevedo, Cristina & McGuire, Alistair, 2011. "Persistence despite action? Measuring the patterns of health inequality in England (1997–2007)," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(2), pages 149-159.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:103:y:2011:i:2:p:149-159
    DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2011.07.002
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    2. Riumallo-Herl, Carlos & Canning, David & Kabudula, Chodziwadziwa, 2019. "Health inequalities in the South African elderly: The importance of the measure of social-economic status," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).
    3. Sam Harper & Eric Ruder & Henry A. Roman & Amelia Geggel & Onyemaechi Nweke & Devon Payne-Sturges & Jonathan I. Levy, 2013. "Using Inequality Measures to Incorporate Environmental Justice into Regulatory Analyses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-21, August.
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    5. Costa-Font, Joan & Hernández-Quevedo, Cristina, 2012. "Measuring inequalities in health: What do we know? What do we need to know?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(2), pages 195-206.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health inequalities; England; Spearhead areas; Concentration index; Inequality decomposition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

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