IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v71y2010i4p777-785.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Relative deprivation and child health in the USA

Author

Listed:
  • Lhila, Aparna
  • Simon, Kosali I.

Abstract

Some recent papers have suggested that relative deprivation could be negatively related to health through psychosocial stress and related behaviors. While there is a large literature on the association between absolute deprivation, i.e., income, and child health, little is known about the association between relative deprivation and child health. This paper asks: controlling for a measure of absolute deprivation, is a mother's relative deprivation related to infant health and maternal health behavior? There are many limitations regarding our measures and methods, and we interpret our results only as associations. Using US 2001 Natality Detail data, we find that pregnant women of lower socioeconomic status relative to other expectant mothers in their Metropolitan Statistical Area give birth to very slightly lighter babies and are more likely to smoke. A back-of-the envelope calculation shows the magnitude of the association we observe between relative deprivation and birthweight is close to what medical studies would predict if the probability of prenatal tobacco use were to increase by the amount we estimate.

Suggested Citation

  • Lhila, Aparna & Simon, Kosali I., 2010. "Relative deprivation and child health in the USA," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(4), pages 777-785, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:71:y:2010:i:4:p:777-785
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(10)00383-7
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    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. Diana S. Lien & William N. Evans, 2005. "Estimating the Impact of Large Cigarette Tax Hikes: The Case of Maternal Smoking and Infant Birth Weight," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(2).
    2. repec:pri:cheawb:case_paxson_economic_status_paper is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Angus Deaton, 2001. "Relative Deprivation, Inequality, and Mortality," NBER Working Papers 8099, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Janet Currie & Mark Stabile, 2003. "Socioeconomic Status and Child Health: Why Is the Relationship Stronger for Older Children?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1813-1823, December.
    5. Wilkinson, Richard G & Pickett, Kate E., 2006. "Income inequality and population health: A review and explanation of the evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(7), pages 1768-1784, April.
    6. Sandra E. Black & Paul J. Devereux & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2007. "From the Cradle to the Labor Market? The Effect of Birth Weight on Adult Outcomes," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(1), pages 409-439.
    7. Osmani, Siddiq & Sen, Amartya, 2003. "The hidden penalties of gender inequality: fetal origins of ill-health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 105-121, January.
    8. Erzo F. P. Luttmer, 2005. "Neighbors as Negatives: Relative Earnings and Well-Being," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(3), pages 963-1002.
    9. repec:pri:cheawb:deaton_inequalities.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Rosemary Hyson & Janet Currie, 1999. "Is the Impact of Health Shocks Cushioned by Socioeconomic Status? The Case of Low Birthweight," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 245-250, May.
    11. E. Kathleen Adams & Vincent P. Miller & Carla Ernst & Brenda K. Nishimura & Cathy Melvin & Robert Merritt, 2002. "Neonatal health care costs related to smoking during pregnancy," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(3), pages 193-206, April.
    12. James P. Smith, 1999. "Healthy Bodies and Thick Wallets: The Dual Relation between Health and Economic Status," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 145-166, Spring.
    13. Douglas Almond & Kenneth Y. Chay & David S. Lee, 2005. "The Costs of Low Birth Weight," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(3), pages 1031-1083.
    14. Murphy, Kevin M & Topel, Robert H, 2002. "Estimation and Inference in Two-Step Econometric Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 20(1), pages 88-97, January.
    15. Theodore Joyce & Michael Grossman, 1990. "Pregnancy wantedness and the early initiation of prenatal care," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 27(1), pages 1-17, February.
    16. Jere R. Behrman & Mark R. Rosenzweig, 2004. "Returns to Birthweight," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(2), pages 586-601, May.
    17. Åberg Yngwe, Monica & Fritzell, Johan & Lundberg, Olle & Diderichsen, Finn & Burström, Bo, 2003. "Exploring relative deprivation: Is social comparison a mechanism in the relation between income and health?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(8), pages 1463-1473, October.
    18. Black, Dan & Sanders, Seth & Taylor, Lowell, 2003. "Measurement of Higher Education in the Census and Current Population Survey," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 98, pages 545-554, January.
    19. Shlomo Yitzhaki, 1979. "Relative Deprivation and the Gini Coefficient," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 93(2), pages 321-324.
    20. Evans, William N. & Ringel, Jeanne S., 1999. "Can higher cigarette taxes improve birth outcomes?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 135-154, April.
    21. Behrman, Jere R & Rosenzweig, Mark R & Taubman, Paul, 1994. "Endowments and the Allocation of Schooling in the Family and in the Marriage Market: The Twins Experiment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(6), pages 1131-1174, December.
    22. Currie, Janet & Decker, Sandra & Lin, Wanchuan, 2008. "Has public health insurance for older children reduced disparities in access to care and health outcomes?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 1567-1581, December.
    23. Christine Eibner & William N. Evans, 2005. "Relative Deprivation, Poor Health Habits, and Mortality," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(3).
    24. repec:pri:cheawb:case_paxson_economic_status_paper.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Grossman, Michael, 1972. "On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(2), pages 223-255, March-Apr.
    26. repec:pri:cheawb:deaton_relative_deprivation.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Reagan, Patricia B. & Salsberry, Pamela J. & Olsen, Randall J., 2007. "Does the measure of economic disadvantage matter? Exploring the effect of individual and relative deprivation on intrauterine growth restriction," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(10), pages 2016-2029, May.
    28. Angus Deaton, 1999. "Inequalities in Income and Inequalities in Health," NBER Working Papers 7141, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    29. Anne Case & Darren Lubotsky & Christina Paxson, 2002. "Economic Status and Health in Childhood: The Origins of the Gradient," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1308-1334, December.
    30. repec:ucn:wpaper:10197/317 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Sun, Yu & You, Wen, 2016. "Relative-deprivation effects on child health in China," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235926, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Filippo Temporin, 2020. "How Does Deprivation Affect Early-Age Mortality? Patterns of Socioeconomic Determinants of Neonatal and Postneonatal Mortality in Bolivia," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(5), pages 1681-1704, October.
    3. Chen, Xi & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2017. "Costly Posturing: Ceremonies and Early Child Development in China," IZA Discussion Papers 10662, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Pak, Tae-Young & Choung, Youngjoo, 2020. "Relative deprivation and suicide risk in South Korea," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    5. Punarjit Roychowdhury, 2018. "Visible consumption, relative deprivation, and health: evidence from a developing country," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 38(3), pages 1366-1380.
    6. Cuesta, Maite Blázquez & Budría, Santiago, 2015. "Income deprivation and mental well-being: The role of non-cognitive skills," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 16-28.
    7. Miething, Alexander, 2013. "A matter of perception: Exploring the role of income satisfaction in the income–mortality relationship in German survey data 1995–2010," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 72-79.
    8. Maite Blázquez & Elena Cottini & Ainhoa Herrarte, 2014. "The socioeconomic gradient in health: how important is material deprivation?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 12(2), pages 239-264, June.
    9. Kiwoong Park, 2021. "Does Relative Deprivation in School During Adolescence Get Under the Skin? A Causal Mediation Analysis from the Life Course Perspective," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 154(1), pages 285-312, February.
    10. Adjaye-Gbewonyo, Kafui & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2012. "Use of the Yitzhaki Index as a test of relative deprivation for health outcomes: A review of recent literature," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 129-137.
    11. Xuan, Zheli & Gao, Fengqiang & Zhou, Yuci & Wang, Hongxiu & Zhao, Jinzhe & Han, Lei & Luo, Jing, 2021. "Intergenerational transmission of relative deprivation: A moderated mediation model," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    12. Mishra, Sandeep & Carleton, R. Nicholas, 2015. "Subjective relative deprivation is associated with poorer physical and mental health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 144-149.
    13. Kuo, Chun-Tung & Chiang, Tung-liang, 2013. "The association between relative deprivation and self-rated health, depressive symptoms, and smoking behavior in Taiwan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 39-44.

    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. Owen O'Donnell & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Tom Van Ourti, 2013. "Health and Inequality," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 13-170/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    2. Almond, Douglas & Currie, Janet, 2011. "Human Capital Development before Age Five," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 15, pages 1315-1486, Elsevier.
    3. Settele, Sonja & Ewijk, Reyn van, 2018. "Can cigarette taxes during pregnancy mitigate the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic status?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 130-148.
    4. Del Bono, Emilia & Francesconi, Marco & Ermisch, John, 2008. "Intrafamily resource allocations: a dynamic model of birth weight," ISER Working Paper Series 2008-27, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    5. Janet Currie, 2009. "Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Socioeconomic Status, Poor Health in Childhood, and Human Capital Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 87-122, March.
    6. Lhila, Aparna, 2009. "Does government provision of healthcare explain the relationship between income inequality and low birthweight?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 1236-1245, October.
    7. Maite Blázquez & Elena Cottini & Ainhoa Herrarte, 2014. "The socioeconomic gradient in health: how important is material deprivation?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 12(2), pages 239-264, June.
    8. Schultz, T. Paul, 2010. "Population and Health Policies," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4785-4881, Elsevier.
    9. Tominey, Emma, 2007. "Maternal smoking during pregnancy and early child outcomes," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19675, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Gábor Kertesi & Gábor Kézdi, 2016. "On the test score gap between Roma and non-Roma students in Hungary and its potential causes," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 24(1), pages 135-162, January.
    11. Anna Aizer & Laura Stroud, 2010. "Education, Knowledge and the Evolution of Disparities in Health," NBER Working Papers 15840, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Emilia Del Bono & John Ermisch & Marco Francesconi, 2012. "Intrafamily Resource Allocations: A Dynamic Structural Model of Birth Weight," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(3), pages 657-706.
    13. Nastis, Stefanos A. & Crocker, Thomas D., 2012. "Valuing mother and child health: The intrauterine environment," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 318-328.
    14. David M. Cutler & Adriana Lleras-Muney & Tom Vogl, 2008. "Socioeconomic Status and Health: Dimensions and Mechanisms," NBER Working Papers 14333, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Eriksson, Tor & Bratsberg, Bernt & Raaum, Oddbjørn, 2005. "Earnings persistence across generations: Transmission through health?," Memorandum 35/2005, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    16. Kertesi, Gábor & Kézdi, Gábor, 2012. "A roma és nem roma tanulók teszteredményei közti különbségekről és e különbségek okairól [The Roma/non-Roma test-score gap in Hungarian education]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 798-853.
    17. Aparna Lhila & Sharon Long, 2012. "What is driving the black–white difference in low birthweight in the US?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(3), pages 301-315, March.
    18. Janet Currie & Mark Stabile & Phongsack Manivong & Leslie L. Roos, 2010. "Child Health and Young Adult Outcomes," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(3).
    19. Sonia Bhalotra & Samantha Rawlings, 2013. "Gradients of the Intergenerational Transmission of Health in Developing Countries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(2), pages 660-672, May.
    20. Mocan, Naci & Raschke, Christian & Unel, Bulent, 2015. "The impact of mothers’ earnings on health inputs and infant health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 204-223.

    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:71:y:2010:i:4:p:777-785. 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.