Health Disparities by Income in Spain before and after the Economic Crisis

Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper 15-130/V

40 Pages Posted: 3 Dec 2015

See all articles by Max Coveney

Max Coveney

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE)

Pilar Garcia-Gomez

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE)

Eddy van Doorslaer

Erasmus School of Economics

Tom Van Ourti

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR); Tinbergen Institute

Date Written: December 2, 2015

Abstract

Little is known about what the economic crisis has done to health disparities by income. We apply a decomposition method to unravel the contributions of income growth, income inequality and differential income mobility across socio-demographic groups to changes in health disparities by income in Spain using longitudinal data from the Survey of Income and Living Conditions (SILC) for the period 2004-2012. We find a modest rise in health inequality by income in Spain in the five years of economic growth prior to the start of the crisis in 2008, but a sharp fall after 2008. The drop mainly derives from the fact that loss of employment and earnings has disproportionately affected the incomes of the younger and healthier groups rather than the (mainly stable pension) incomes of the over 65s. This suggests that unequal distribution of income protection by age may reduce health inequality in the short run after an economic recession.

Keywords: economic crisis, health inequality, Spain

JEL Classification: D30, D63, I14, I15

Suggested Citation

Coveney, Max and Garcia Gomez, Pilar and van Doorslaer, Eddy and Van Ourti, Tom, Health Disparities by Income in Spain before and after the Economic Crisis (December 2, 2015). Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper 15-130/V, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2698554 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2698554

Max Coveney (Contact Author)

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) ( email )

P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam, NL 3062 PA
Netherlands

Pilar Garcia Gomez

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) ( email )

P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam, NL 3062 PA
Netherlands

Eddy Van Doorslaer

Erasmus School of Economics ( email )

Netherlands

Tom Van Ourti

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) ( email )

Burgemeester Oudlaan 50
3000 DR Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland 3062PA
Netherlands

Tinbergen Institute ( email )

Burg. Oudlaan 50
Rotterdam, 3062 PA
Netherlands

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
121
Abstract Views
1,010
Rank
477,600
PlumX Metrics