Are richer folks more healthy? And in that case, how sturdy is that this relationship? Does it differ by nation?

That’s what a paper by Kyriopoulos et al. 2024 makes an attempt to reply. They measure well being and wealth utilizing a “focus index” (CI) calculated as follows:

CI is estimated with respect to the focus curve, which illustrates the cumulative proportion of a well being standing variable relative to the cumulative proportion of the inhabitants, rating people from least rich to richest. Particularly, CI is twice the realm between the focus curve and the 45-degree line of equality, with zero values ​​reflecting the absence of socioeconomic inequality in well being. Not like the Gini index, CI quantifies inequality in a single variable (i.e., well being) primarily based on its rating relative to a different (i.e., socioeconomic measure). A optimistic CI signifies that well being is extra concentrated among the many wealthiest people, with greater index values ​​reflecting higher pro-rich inequality.

The precise model of CI used comes from Wagstaff 2005. Wealth is measured utilizing non-housing wealth (though a sensitivity evaluation makes use of whole wealth together with housing) and well being is measured utilizing self-reported well being standing on a 5-point scale (i.e. poor, truthful, good, excellent, wonderful). To estimate CI, they use knowledge from the Well being and Retirement Survey (HRS) within the US and Survey of Well being, Getting older, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) in Europe.

Utilizing this strategy they found:

…proof of wealth-related inequalities in self-reported well being standing throughout a number of high-income nations, with the US exhibiting greater ranges of inequality than its European counterparts. The magnitude of those wealth-related inequalities remained unchanged throughout the examine interval in all nations.

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