IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v75y2012i4p761-769.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The persistence of health inequalities in modern welfare states: The explanation of a paradox

Author

Listed:
  • Mackenbach, Johan P.

Abstract

The persistence of socioeconomic inequalities in health, even in the highly developed ‘welfare states’ of Western Europe, is one of the great disappointments of public health. Health inequalities have not only persisted while welfare states were being built up, but on some measures have even widened, and are not smaller in European countries with more generous welfare arrangements. This paper attempts to identify potential explanations for this paradox, by reviewing nine modern ‘theories’ of the explanation of health inequalities. The theories reviewed are: mathematical artifact, fundamental causes, life course perspective, social selection, personal characteristics, neo-materialism, psychosocial factors, diffusion of innovations, and cultural capital.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:75:y:2012:i:4:p:761-769
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.02.031
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953612002055
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.02.031?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. Harry Ter Rele, 2007. "Measuring The Lifetime Redistribution Achieved By Dutch Taxation, Cash Transfer And Non‐Cash Benefits Programs," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 53(2), pages 335-362, June.
    2. West, Patrick, 1991. "Rethinking the health selection explanation for health inequalities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 373-384, January.
    3. Sihvonen, Ari-Pekka & Kunst, Anton E. & Lahelma, Eero & Valkonen, Tapani & Mackenbach, Johan P., 1998. "Socioeconomic inequalities in health expectancy in Finland and Norway in the late 1980s," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 303-315, August.
    4. מחקר - ביטוח לאומי, 2005. "Summary for 2004," Working Papers 31, National Insurance Institute of Israel.
    5. Angus Deaton, 2011. "What does the empirical evidence tell us about the injustice of health inequalities?," Working Papers 1364, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Health and Wellbeing..
    6. repec:dau:papers:123456789/10510 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. repec:pri:cheawb:what_does_the_empirical_evidence_tell_us_about_the_injustice.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Hart, C. L. & Taylor, M. D. & Smith, G. Davey & Whalley, L. J. & Starr, J. M. & Hole, D. J. & Wilson, V. & Deary, I. J., 2004. "Childhood IQ and cardiovascular disease in adulthood: prospective observational study linking the Scottish Mental Survey 1932 and the Midspan studies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(10), pages 2131-2138, November.
    9. anonymous, 2005. "Summary of economic conditions," Main Street Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 1-4.
    10. Mackenbach, Johan P., 2010. "Has the English strategy to reduce health inequalities failed?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(7), pages 1249-1253, October.
    11. repec:dau:papers:123456789/9988 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. John E. Roemer & Pedro Rosa Dias, 2016. "Barefoot and footloose doctors: optimal resource allocation in developing countries with medical migration," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 46(2), pages 335-358, February.
    2. Gerdtham, Ulf-G & Lundborg, Petter & Lyttkens, Carl Hampus & Nystedt, Paul, 2012. "Do Socioeconomic Factors Really Explain Income-Related Inequalities in Health? Applying a Twin Design to Standard Decomposition Analysis," Working Papers 2012:21, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    3. Dumas, A. & Cailbault, I. & Perrey, C. & Oberlin, O. & De Vathaire, F. & Amiel, P., 2015. "Educational trajectories after childhood cancer: When illness experience matters," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 67-74.
    4. Olga Grigoriev & Gabriele Doblhammer, 2019. "Changing educational gradient in long-term care-free life expectancy among German men, 1997-2012," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-20, September.
    5. Persson, Sofie & Dahlquist, Gisela & Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & Steen Carlsson, Katarina, 2014. "Childhood Health and Labor Market Outcomes in the Case of Type 1 Diabetes," Working Papers 2014:43, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    6. Alexi Gugushvili & Martin McKee & Michael Murphy & Aytalina Azarova & Darja Irdam & Katarzyna Doniec & Lawrence King, 2019. "Intergenerational Mobility in Relative Educational Attainment and Health-Related Behaviours," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(1), pages 413-441, January.
    7. Abdul Manap Pulungan, . "Determinan Neraca Transaksi Berjalan Indonesia," INDEF Working Papers, Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF), number 032020, January-J.
    8. Susanne Alm, 2011. "Downward Social Mobility across Generations: The Role of Parental Mobility and Education," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 16(3), pages 1-14, August.
    9. Bartels, Charlotte & Neumann, Dirk, 2021. "Redistribution and Insurance in Welfare States around the World," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 123(4), pages 1116-1158.
    10. Shepherd, Carrington CJ & Li, Jianghong & Mitrou, Francis & Zubrick, Stephen R., 2012. "Socioeconomic disparities in the mental health of Indigenous children in Western Australia," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 12, pages 1-1.
    11. Ignazio Visco & Barry Eichengreen & Gilles Mourre & Declan Costello & Giuseppe Carone & Nuria Diez Guardia & Bartosz Przywara & Aino Salomäki & Vincenzo Galasso & Mark Weth & Sebastian Schich & Etienn, 2007. "Money, Finance and Demography: The Consequences of Ageing," SUERF Colloquium Volumes, SUERF - The European Money and Finance Forum, number 1 edited by Morten Balling & Ernest Gnan & Frank Lierman, March.
    12. Omar Aziz & Norman Gemmell & Athene Laws, 2016. "Income and Fiscal Incidence by Age and Gender: Some Evidence from New Zealand," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(3), pages 534-558, September.
    13. Karin A A De Ridder & Kristine Pape & Roar Johnsen & Turid Lingaas Holmen & Steinar Westin & Johan Håkon Bjørngaard, 2013. "Adolescent Health and High School Dropout: A Prospective Cohort Study of 9000 Norwegian Adolescents (The Young-HUNT)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(9), pages 1-7, September.
    14. Alyson van Raalte & Pekka Martikainen & Mikko Myrskylä, 2014. "Lifespan Variation by Occupational Class: Compression or Stagnation Over Time?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(1), pages 73-95, February.
    15. Fubaihui Wang & Qingkai Zhen & Kaigang Li & Xu Wen, 2018. "Association of socioeconomic status and health-related behavior with elderly health in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(9), pages 1-14, September.
    16. Murasko, Jason E., 2013. "Physical growth and cognitive skills in early-life: Evidence from a nationally representative US birth cohort," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 267-277.
    17. Alari Paulus & Holly Sutherland & Panos Tsakloglou, 2010. "The distributional impact of in-kind public benefits in European countries," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 243-266.
    18. Christopher J. Boyce & Andrew J. Oswald, 2012. "Do people become healthier after being promoted?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(5), pages 580-596, May.
    19. Aart Gerritsen & Bas Jacobs, 2020. "Is a Minimum Wage an Appropriate Instrument for Redistribution?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 87(347), pages 611-637, July.
    20. Irma T. Elo & Pekka Martikainen & Kirsten P. Smith, 2006. "Socioeconomic differentials in mortality in Finland and the United States: the role of education and income," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 22(2), pages 179-203, June.

    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:75:y:2012:i:4:p:761-769. 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.