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Socioeconomic inequalities in premature mortality in France: Have they widened in recent decades?

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  • Leclerc, Annette
  • Chastang, Jean-François
  • Menvielle, Gwenn
  • Luce, Danièle

Abstract

An increase in social inequalities in premature mortality has been observed in the last decades in various European countries. In France, large inequalities have been reported for several years, but the changes over time have been only partially examined. The study was based on the analysis of a large longitudinal data set. Four periods of 7 years following a census were compared. Deaths in the period (21,003 deaths for men, 9418 for women) were recorded and studied according to socioeconomic status (SES) at the census. Relative Index of Inequality (RII) was calculated in order to quantify the magnitude of inequalities among those employed, and also in the entire population, with specific categories for those inactive. The results showed that the magnitude of inequalities remained mainly stable over time for men and women working at the time of the census. However, for the entire population, a strong increase in the magnitude of social inequalities was observed. For men the RIIs increased from 3.53 in the first period to 6.54 in the most recent period. For women, the corresponding figures were 1.94 and 3.88. The increase was observed also for specific causes of deaths: cancer and cardiovascular diseases for both sexes, and external causes for men. In spite of a global decrease in the mortality over the period, the absolute differences between the top and the bottom of the socioeconomic scale did not change. The results highlight the importance of temporal changes in mortality associated with an increase of unemployment, changes in the labour market, and the consequences of selective exclusion from work. The classification of those not working is an important point to consider in the study of social inequalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Leclerc, Annette & Chastang, Jean-François & Menvielle, Gwenn & Luce, Danièle, 2006. "Socioeconomic inequalities in premature mortality in France: Have they widened in recent decades?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(8), pages 2035-2045, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:62:y:2006:i:8:p:2035-2045
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    2. Janet Currie & Hannes Schwandt & Josselin Thuilliez, 2020. "Pauvreté, Egalité, Mortalité: mortality (in)equality in France and the United States," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 197-231, January.
    3. Mahdi-Salim Saib & Julien Caudeville & Florence Carre & Olivier Ganry & Alain Trugeon & Andre Cicolella, 2014. "Spatial Relationship Quantification between Environmental, Socioeconomic and Health Data at Different Geographic Levels," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-22, April.
    4. Ling Yao & Changchun Huang & Wenlong Jing & Xiafang Yue & Yuyue Xu, 2018. "Quantitative Assessment of Relationship between Population Exposure to PM 2.5 and Socio-Economic Factors at Multiple Spatial Scales over Mainland China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-13, September.
    5. Tannahill, Carol & Sridharan, Sanjeev, 2013. "Getting real about policy and practice needs: Evaluation as a bridge between the problem and solution space," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 157-164.
    6. Nicole Darmon & Adam Drewnowski, 2015. "Contribution of food prices and diet cost to socioeconomic disparities in diet quality and health: a systematic review and analysis," Post-Print hal-01774670, HAL.
    7. Nicole Darmon & Anne Lacroix & Laurent Muller & Bernard Ruffieux, 2014. "Food price policies improve diet quality while increasing socioeconomic inequalities in nutrition," Post-Print hal-01845621, HAL.
    8. Marlen Toch-Marquardt & Gwenn Menvielle & Terje A Eikemo & Ivana Kulhánová & Margarete C Kulik & Matthias Bopp & Santiago Esnaola & Domantas Jasilionis & Netta Mäki & Pekka Martikainen & Enrique Regid, 2014. "Occupational Class Inequalities in All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality among Middle-Aged Men in 14 European Populations during the Early 2000s," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(9), pages 1-11, September.
    9. repec:dau:papers:123456789/7002 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Pampalon, Robert & Hamel, Denis & Gamache, Philippe, 2008. "Recent changes in the geography of social disparities in premature mortality in Québec," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(8), pages 1269-1281, October.
    11. Johannes Klotz, 2010. "Convergence or divergence of educational disparities in mortality and morbidity? The evolution of life expectancy and health expectancy by educational attainment in Austria in 1981-2006," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 8(1), pages 139-174.
    12. Saito, Masashige & Kondo, Naoki & Kondo, Katsunori & Ojima, Toshiyuki & Hirai, Hiroshi, 2012. "Gender differences on the impacts of social exclusion on mortality among older Japanese: AGES cohort study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(5), pages 940-945.

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