IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/demogr/v55y2018i3d10.1007_s13524-018-0674-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Education and Physical Health Trajectories in Later Life: A Comparative Study

Author

Listed:
  • Liliya Leopold

    (University of Amsterdam)

Abstract

The cumulative (dis)advantage hypothesis states that health disparities between education groups increase with age. The present study examined this hypothesis in a comparative analysis of the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Sweden. These countries offer sharp contrasts in the social conditions that may intensify or inhibit processes of cumulative (dis)advantage. Using harmonized panel data from the HRS, ELSA, and SHARE, the study applied Poisson multilevel regression models to trace changes in the number of chronic conditions and functional limitations of people aged 50–76 (N = 16,887 individuals; 71,154 observations). The four countries showed a clear gradient in levels of physical health and in the extent to which health trajectories were shaped by education. Across all ages and cohorts, health problems were most prevalent in the United States, less prevalent in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and least prevalent in Sweden. A similar cross-national gradient was found for the size of health gaps between education groups and for the extent to which these gaps widened with age. Gaps were largest in the United States, smaller in the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands, and smallest in Sweden.

Suggested Citation

  • Liliya Leopold, 2018. "Education and Physical Health Trajectories in Later Life: A Comparative Study," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(3), pages 901-927, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:55:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s13524-018-0674-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-018-0674-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13524-018-0674-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13524-018-0674-7?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. van der Wel, Kjetil A. & Dahl, Espen & Thielen, Karsten, 2011. "Social inequalities in ‘sickness’: European welfare states and non-employment among the chronically ill," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(11), pages 1608-1617.
    2. Wei Pan, 2001. "Akaike's Information Criterion in Generalized Estimating Equations," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 57(1), pages 120-125, March.
    3. Montez, J.K. & Zajacova, A. & Hayward, M.D., 2017. "Disparities in disability by educational attainment across US states," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 107(7), pages 1101-1108.
    4. Lynch, Jamie L. & von Hippel, Paul T., 2016. "An education gradient in health, a health gradient in education, or a confounded gradient in both?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 18-27.
    5. Ross, Catherine E. & Mirowsky, John, 2011. "The interaction of personal and parental education on health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(4), pages 591-599, February.
    6. Delaruelle, Katrijn & Buffel, Veerle & Bracke, Piet, 2015. "Educational expansion and the education gradient in health: A hierarchical age-period-cohort analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 79-88.
    7. John Mirowsky & Jinyoung Kim, 2007. "Graphing Age Trajectories," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 35(4), pages 497-541, May.
    8. Baeten, Steef & Van Ourti, Tom & van Doorslaer, Eddy, 2013. "The socioeconomic health gradient across the life cycle: What role for selective mortality and institutionalization?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 66-74.
    9. Avendano, M. & Glymour, M.M. & Banks, J. & Mackenbach, J.P., 2009. "Health disadvantage in US adults aged 50 to 74 years: A comparison of the health of rich and poor Americans with that of Europeans," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(3), pages 540-548.
    10. Hayward, Mark D. & Hummer, Robert A. & Sasson, Isaac, 2015. "Trends and group differences in the association between educational attainment and U.S. adult mortality: Implications for understanding education's causal influence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 8-18.
    11. Richard B. Freeman & Birgitta Swedenborg & Robert Topel, 2010. "Reforming the Welfare State: Recovery and Beyond in Sweden," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number free05-1.
    12. Götz Rohwer, 2016. "A Note on the Dependence of Health on Age and Education," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(2), pages 325-335, April.
    13. Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2002. "Inverse probability weighted M-estimators for sample selection, attrition, and stratification," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 1(2), pages 117-139, August.
    14. repec:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2017.303768_5 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Jere Behrman & Hans-Peter Kohler & Vibeke Jensen & Dorthe Pedersen & Inge Petersen & Paul Bingley & Kaare Christensen, 2011. "Does More Schooling Reduce Hospitalization and Delay Mortality? New Evidence Based on Danish Twins," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(4), pages 1347-1375, November.
    16. Esping-Andersen, Gosta, 1999. "Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198742005.
    17. Michela Braga & Daniele Checchi & Elena Meschi, 2013. "Educational policies in a long-run perspective [The governance and performance of universities: evidence from Europe and the U.S]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 28(73), pages 45-100.
    18. Richard B. Freeman & Birgitta Swedenborg & Robert H. Topel, 2010. "Introduction to "Reforming the Welfare State: Recovery and Beyond in Sweden"," NBER Chapters, in: Reforming the Welfare State: Recovery and Beyond in Sweden, pages 1-23, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Freeman, Richard B. & Swedenborg, Birgitta & Topel, Robert H. (ed.), 2010. "Reforming the Welfare State," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226261928, July.
    20. Scott Lynch, 2003. "Cohort and life-course patterns in the relationship between education and health: A hierarchical approach," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 40(2), pages 309-331, May.
    21. Kim, Jinyoung & Durden, Emily, 2007. "Socioeconomic status and age trajectories of health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(12), pages 2489-2502, December.
    22. Naomi Duke & Ross Macmillan, 2016. "Schooling, skills, and self-rated health: A test of conventional wisdom on the relationship between educational attainment and health," Working Papers 087, "Carlo F. Dondena" Centre for Research on Social Dynamics (DONDENA), Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi.
    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. Leopold, Liliya & van Valkengoed, Irene G.M. & Engelhardt, Henriette, 2023. "Education and age trajectories of chronic conditions: Are tests of the cumulative advantage and disadvantage hypothesis biased by underreporting?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    2. Malte Sandner & Alexander Patzina & Silke Anger & Sarah Bernhard & Hans Dietrich, 2023. "The COVID-19 pandemic, well-being, and transitions to post-secondary education," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 461-483, June.
    3. Thomas Leoni & Martin Spielauer & Peter Reschenhofer, 2020. "Soziale Unterschiede, Lebenserwartung und Gesundheitsausgaben im Lebensverlauf," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 66626.
    4. Anders Brändström & Anna C. Meyer & Karin Modig & Glenn Sandström, 2022. "Determinants of home care utilization among the Swedish old: nationwide register-based study," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 651-662, September.
    5. Chen, Xi & Yan, Binjian & Gill, Thomas M., 2020. "Childhood Circumstances and Health Inequality in Old Age: Comparative Evidence from China and the United States," GLO Discussion Paper Series 594, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Xi Chen & Binjian Yan & Thomas M. Gill, 2022. "Childhood Circumstances and Health Inequality in Old Age: Comparative Evidence from China and the USA," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 689-716, April.
    7. Mengling Cheng & Nicolas Sommet & Daniela S. Jopp & Dario Spini, 2023. "Evolution of the income-related gap in health with old age: evidence from 20 countries in European and Chinese panel datasets," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 1-11, December.
    8. Elena Caroline Weitzel & Margrit Löbner & Susanne Röhr & Alexander Pabst & Ulrich Reininghaus & Steffi G. Riedel-Heller, 2021. "Prevalence of High Resilience in Old Age and Association with Perceived Threat of COVID-19—Results from a Representative Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-9, July.

    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. 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.
    2. Emmanuel Saez & Benjamin Schoefer & David Seim, 2019. "Payroll Taxes, Firm Behavior, and Rent Sharing: Evidence from a Young Workers' Tax Cut in Sweden," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(5), pages 1717-1763, May.
    3. Jennifer Karas Montez & Kaitlyn Barnes, 2016. "The Benefits of Educational Attainment for U.S. Adult Mortality: Are they Contingent on the Broader Environment?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(1), pages 73-100, February.
    4. Kristina Nyström & Gulzat Elvung, 2014. "New firms and labor market entrants: Is there a wage penalty for employment in new firms?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 399-410, August.
    5. Rasmus Landersø & James J. Heckman, 2017. "The Scandinavian Fantasy: Sources of Intergenerational Mobility in Denmark and the US," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 119(1), pages 178-230, January.
    6. Adriana Lleras-Muney & Joseph Price & Dahai Yue, 2020. "The Association Between Educational Attainment and Longevity using Individual Level Data from the 1940 Census," NBER Working Papers 27514, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Kim, Jinyoung & Miech, Richard, 2009. "The Black-White difference in age trajectories of functional health over the life course," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(4), pages 717-725, February.
    8. Aida Caldera Sánchez & Alain de Serres & Naomitsu Yashiro, 2017. "Reforming in a Difficult Macroeconomic Context: A Review of Issues and Recent Literature," Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 8(01), pages 1-41, February.
    9. Javier Ordóñez & Hector Sala & José Silva, 2015. "Real unit labour costs in Eurozone countries: drivers and clusters," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-19, December.
    10. Gustavsson, Magnus, 2017. "Is Job Polarization a Recent Phenomenon? Evidence from Sweden, 1950–2013, and a Comparison to the United States," Working Paper Series 2017:14, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    11. Asakawa, Keiko & Senthilselvan, Ambikaipakan & Feeny, David & Johnson, Jeffrey & Rolfson, Darryl, 2012. "Trajectories of health-related quality of life differ by age among adults: Results from an eight-year longitudinal study," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 207-218.
    12. Andrew Halpern-Manners & Jonas Helgertz & John Robert Warren & Evan Roberts, 2020. "The Effects of Education on Mortality: Evidence From Linked U.S. Census and Administrative Mortality Data," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(4), pages 1513-1541, August.
    13. James Albrecht & Anders Björklund & Susan Vroman, 2011. "Unionization and the Evolution of the Wage Distribution in Sweden: 1968 to 2000," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 64(5), pages 1039-1057, October.
    14. Isaac Sasson, 2016. "Trends in Life Expectancy and Lifespan Variation by Educational Attainment: United States, 1990–2010," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(2), pages 269-293, April.
    15. Kolm, Ann-Sofie & Tonin, Mirco, 2015. "Benefits conditional on work and the Nordic model," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 115-126.
    16. Ovrum, Arnstein & Gustavsen, Geir Waehler & Rickertsen, Kyrre, 2012. "Health inequalities over the adult life course: the role of lifestyle choices," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 125862, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    17. Mr. Ruy Lama & Juan Pablo Medina Guzman, 2015. "Fiscal Consolidation During Times of High Unemployment: The Role of Productivity Gains and Wage Restraint," IMF Working Papers 2015/262, International Monetary Fund.
    18. Rydland, Håvard T. & Solheim, Erling F. & Eikemo, Terje A., 2020. "Educational inequalities in high- vs. low-preventable health conditions: Exploring the fundamental cause theory," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    19. Baeten, Steef & Van Ourti, Tom & van Doorslaer, Eddy, 2013. "The socioeconomic health gradient across the life cycle: What role for selective mortality and institutionalization?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 66-74.
    20. Bart Hobijn & Aysegul Sahin, 2013. "Beveridge Curve Shifts across Countries since the Great Recession," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 61(4), pages 566-600, December.

    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:spr:demogr:v:55:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s13524-018-0674-7. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.