The Ses Health Gradient on Both Sides of the Atlantic

53 Pages Posted: 20 Nov 2006 Last revised: 20 Aug 2022

See all articles by James W. Banks

James W. Banks

Institute for Fiscal Studies; The University of Manchester

Michael Marmot

University College London

Zoé Oldfield

Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)

James P. Smith

RAND Corporation; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: November 2006

Abstract

Looking across many diseases, average health among mature men is much worse in America compared to England. Second, there exists a steep negative health gradient for men in both countries where men at the bottom of the economic hierarchy are in much worse health than those at the top. This health gradient exists whether education, income, or financial wealth is used as the marker of one's SES status. These conclusions are maintained even after controlling for a standard set of behavioral risk factors such as smoking, drinking, and obesity and are equally true using either biological measures of disease or individual self-reports. In contrast to these disease based measures, health of American men appears to be superior to the health of English men when self-reported general health status is used. The contradiction most likely stems instead from different thresholds used by Americans and English when evaluating health status on subjective scales. For the same "objective" health status, Americans are much more likely to say that their health is good than are the English. Finally, feedbacks from new health events to household income are one of the reasons that underlie the strength of the income gradient with health in England.

Suggested Citation

Banks, James W. and Marmot, Michael and Oldfield, Zoe and Smith, James P., The Ses Health Gradient on Both Sides of the Atlantic (November 2006). NBER Working Paper No. w12674, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=942969

James W. Banks (Contact Author)

Institute for Fiscal Studies ( email )

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The University of Manchester

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Manchester, N/A M13 9PL
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Michael Marmot

University College London ( email )

Gower Street
London, WC1E 6BT
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Zoe Oldfield

Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) ( email )

7 Ridgmount Street
London, WC1E 7AE
United Kingdom

James P. Smith

RAND Corporation ( email )

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Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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