IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v267y2020ics0277953620305761.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health inequalities in Eastern Europe. Does the role of the welfare regime differ from Western Europe?

Author

Listed:
  • Jutz, Regina

Abstract

When we study the impact of social policy on health inequalities, we find that most research is based on Western European countries. This study expands the geographical focus by including post-communist countries from Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Caucasus. The 2008/2009 round of the European Values Study (EVS) provides a unique opportunity for this analysis since it covers 23 post-communist countries and 20 Western European countries. The study uses multilevel cross-sectional analyses to examine the moderating role of welfare regimes on socioeconomic health inequalities. Many reviews claim that the results for welfare systems and health inequalities are inconsistent. However, since the studies selected for the reviews are mainly focused on Western Europe—only a few include Central Eastern European countries—we still need to find out how welfare regimes in post-communist countries moderate the link between socioeconomic status and health. A cluster analysis based on 13 social and economic indicators generates 4 welfare clusters within the post-communist countries which are used for further analyses. Regarding the achievements of the communist countries in compulsory secondary education, the expectation is that the educational health inequalities differ between Eastern and Western Europe. The multilevel analyses confirm that social gradients in health related to education and income exist in both Western and Eastern Europe. However, while income-related health inequalities are similar, educational health inequalities are most pronounced in the welfare cluster of the EU Member States of Central and Eastern Europe.

Suggested Citation

  • Jutz, Regina, 2020. "Health inequalities in Eastern Europe. Does the role of the welfare regime differ from Western Europe?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:267:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620305761
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113357
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953620305761
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113357?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lucia Bosakova & Katarina Rosicova & Daniela Filakovska Bobakova & Martin Rosic & Dagmar Dzurova & Hynek Pikhart & Michala Lustigova & Paula Santana, 2019. "Mortality in the Visegrad countries from the perspective of socioeconomic inequalities," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 64(3), pages 365-376, April.
    2. Cockerham, William C. & Hinote, Brian P. & Cockerham, Geoffrey B. & Abbott, Pamela, 2006. "Health lifestyles and political ideology in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(7), pages 1799-1809, April.
    3. Bobak, Martin & Pikhart, Hynek & Rose, Richard & Hertzman, Clyde & Marmot, Michael, 2000. "Socioeconomic factors, material inequalities, and perceived control in self-rated health: cross-sectional data from seven post-communist countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(9), pages 1343-1350, November.
    4. Patrick Präg & S. V. Subramanian, 2017. "Educational inequalities in self-rated health across US states and European countries," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 62(6), pages 709-716, July.
    5. Kornai,János & Eggleston,Karen, 2010. "Welfare, Choice and Solidarity in Transition," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521159371, November.
    6. Cornia, Giovanni Andrea & Paniccia, Renato (ed.), 2000. "The Mortality Crisis in Transitional Economies," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198297413.
    7. Teresa Bago d'Uva & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Maarten Lindeboom & Owen O'Donnell, 2008. "Does reporting heterogeneity bias the measurement of health disparities?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(3), pages 351-375, March.
    8. Eikemo, Terje Andreas & Bambra, Clare & Judge, Ken & Ringdal, Kristen, 2008. "Welfare state regimes and differences in self-perceived health in Europe: A multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(11), pages 2281-2295, June.
    9. Coburn, David, 2004. "Beyond the income inequality hypothesis: class, neo-liberalism, and health inequalities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 41-56, January.
    10. Burgard, Sarah A. & Chen, Patricia V., 2014. "Challenges of health measurement in studies of health disparities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 143-150.
    11. Wilkinson, Richard G., 2000. "Deeper than "neoliberalism". A reply to David Coburn," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(7), pages 997-1000, October.
    12. Zajacova, Anna & Huzurbazar, Snehalata & Todd, Megan, 2017. "Gender and the structure of self-rated health across the adult life span," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 58-66.
    13. Ottar Hellevik, 2009. "Linear versus logistic regression when the dependent variable is a dichotomy," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 59-74, January.
    14. Mackenbach, Johan P., 2012. "The persistence of health inequalities in modern welfare states: The explanation of a paradox," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(4), pages 761-769.
    15. von dem Knesebeck, Olaf & Verde, Pablo E. & Dragano, Nico, 2006. "Education and health in 22 European countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(5), pages 1344-1351, September.
    16. Dahl, Espen & van der Wel, Kjetil A., 2013. "Educational inequalities in health in European welfare states: A social expenditure approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 60-69.
    17. Heisig, Jan Paul & Schaeffer, Merlin & Giesecke, Johannes, 2017. "The Costs of Simplicity: Why Multilevel Models May Benefit from Accounting for Cross-Cluster Differences in the Effects of Controls," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 82(4), pages 796-827.
    18. Nikolai, Rita & Ebner, Christian & Allmendinger, Jutta, 2010. "Bildung in Europa 2010 - Ziele erreicht oder verfehlt?," WSI-Mitteilungen, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 63(4), pages 171-178.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. McCauley, Darren & Pettigrew, Kerry A. & Todd, Iain & Milchram, Christine, 2023. "Leaders and laggards in the pursuit of an EU just transition," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Patricia Gómez-Costilla & Carmen García-Prieto & Noelia Somarriba-Arechavala, 2022. "Aging and Gender Health Gap: A Multilevel Analysis for 17 European Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 1051-1069, April.
    2. Eikemo, Terje Andreas & Bambra, Clare & Judge, Ken & Ringdal, Kristen, 2008. "Welfare state regimes and differences in self-perceived health in Europe: A multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(11), pages 2281-2295, June.
    3. Beckfield, Jason & Bambra, Clare, 2016. "Shorter lives in stingier states: Social policy shortcomings help explain the US mortality disadvantage," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 30-38.
    4. Liliya Leopold, 2019. "Health Measurement and Health Inequality Over the Life Course: A Comparison of Self-rated Health, SF-12, and Grip Strength," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(2), pages 763-784, April.
    5. Álvarez-Gálvez, Javier & Jaime-Castillo, Antonio M., 2018. "The impact of social expenditure on health inequalities in Europe," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 9-18.
    6. Gintare Mazeikaite & Cathal O’Donoghue & Denisa M. Sologon, 2021. "What Drives Cross-Country Health Inequality in the EU? Unpacking the Role of Socio-economic Factors," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 117-155, May.
    7. Teresa Leão & Inês Campos-Matos & Clare Bambra & Giuliano Russo & Julian Perelman, 2018. "Welfare states, the Great Recession and health: Trends in educational inequalities in self-reported health in 26 European countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(2), pages 1-14, February.
    8. Vonneilich, Nico & Lüdecke, Daniel & von dem Knesebeck, Olaf, 2020. "Educational inequalities in self-rated health and social relationships – analyses based on the European Social Survey 2002-2016," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    9. Cinzia Di Novi & Anna Marenzi & Dino Rizzi, 2018. "Do healthcare tax credits help poor-health individuals on low incomes?," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(2), pages 293-307, March.
    10. Di Novi, C. & Piacenza, M. & Robone, S. & Turati, G., 2015. "How does fiscal decentralization affect within-regional disparities in well-being? Evidence from health inequalities in Italy," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 15/23, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    11. Javier Alvarez-Galvez & Maria Luisa Rodero-Cosano & Emma Motrico & Jose A. Salinas-Perez & Carlos Garcia-Alonso & Luis Salvador-Carulla, 2013. "The Impact of Socio-Economic Status on Self-Rated Health: Study of 29 Countries Using European Social Surveys (2002–2008)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-15, February.
    12. Javier Álvarez-Gálvez & María Luisa Rodero-Cosano & José A. Salinas-Pérez & Diego Gómez-Baya, 2019. "Exploring the Complex Associations Among Social Determinants of Health in Andalusia After the 2008 Financial Crisis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(2), pages 873-893, January.
    13. De Moortel, Deborah & Palència, Laia & Artazcoz, Lucía & Borrell, Carme & Vanroelen, Christophe, 2015. "Neo-Marxian social class inequalities in the mental well-being of employed men and women: The role of European welfare regimes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 188-200.
    14. Di Novi, Cinzia & Piacenza, Massimiliano & Robone, Silvana & Turati, Gilberto, 2019. "Does fiscal decentralization affect regional disparities in health? Quasi-experimental evidence from Italy," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    15. Anna Choi & John Cawley, 2018. "Health disparities across education: The role of differential reporting error," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 1-29, March.
    16. Haejoo Chung & Edwin Ng & Selahadin Ibrahim & Björn Karlsson & Joan Benach & Albert Espelt & Carles Muntaner, 2013. "Welfare State Regimes, Gender, and Depression: A Multilevel Analysis of Middle and High Income Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, March.
    17. Blom, Niels & Huijts, Tim & Kraaykamp, Gerbert, 2016. "Ethnic health inequalities in Europe. The moderating and amplifying role of healthcare system characteristics," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 43-51.
    18. Jiri Mudrak & Jan Stochl & Pavel Slepicka & Steriani Elavsky, 2016. "Physical activity, self-efficacy, and quality of life in older Czech adults," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 5-14, March.
    19. Héctor Pifarré i Arolas & Christian Dudel, 2019. "An Ordinal Measure of Population Health," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(3), pages 1219-1243, June.
    20. 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.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:267:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620305761. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.