[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/dem/demres/v26y2012i23.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Old age, health and social inequality

Author

Listed:
  • Sören Edvinsson

    (Umeå Universitet)

  • Göran Broström

    (Umeå Universitet)

Abstract
Background: Social position is one of the major determinants of health. Less is known about its effect in historical contexts. Previous studies have shown surprisingly small effects of social class in working age populations. Not much is known about social differences in health among the elderly in history. Objective: The present paper analyses social differences in health among the elderly (60+) in the Sundsvall region in northern Sweden during the 19th century. We investigate whether social mortality differences are particularly apparent in old age when unpropertied groups lost their most important asset for survival: their capacity to work. Methods: The data, representing 9,535 fatal events, are analysed using a Cox regression model, assuming proportional hazards. Results: Social class had no significant effect for women during the pre-industrial period, while only those with unknown social position had higher mortality among men. During the industrial period female mortality was lowest in the skilled working class and highest in the upper class. Social position was not significant for men in the full model. Urban mortality was 30% higher for women and 59% higher for men during the pre-industrial period compared to the peripheral parishes. Conclusions: The results lead us to question the accepted 'fact' of social health differences as a historical constant. Higher social position did not lead to better survival, and social differences in mortality did not increase in old age, despite the fact that the elderly were a highly vulnerable group. Instead, the spatial aspects of mortality were important, particularly during the pre-industrial period.

Suggested Citation

  • Sören Edvinsson & Göran Broström, 2012. "Old age, health and social inequality," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 26(23), pages 633-660.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:26:y:2012:i:23
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2012.26.23
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol26/23/26-23.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/DemRes.2012.26.23?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Edvinsson, Sören & Lindkvist, Marie, 2011. "Wealth and health in 19th Century Sweden. A study of social differences in adult mortality in the Sundsvall region," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 376-388, July.
    2. Dale Dannefer, 2003. "Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage and the Life Course: Cross-Fertilizing Age and Social Science Theory," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 58(6), pages 327-337.
    3. Grundy, Emily & Sloggett, Andy, 2003. "Health inequalities in the older population: the role of personal capital, social resources and socio-economic circumstances," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(5), pages 935-947, March.
    4. Smith, Ken R. & Mineau, Geraldine P. & Garibotti, Gilda & Kerber, Richard, 2009. "Effects of childhood and middle-adulthood family conditions on later-life mortality: Evidence from the Utah Population Database, 1850-2002," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(9), pages 1649-1658, May.
    5. Huisman, Martijn & Kunst, Anton E. & Mackenbach, Johan P., 2003. "Socioeconomic inequalities in morbidity among the elderly; a European overview," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(5), pages 861-873, September.
    6. Anton E. Kunst & Vivian Bos & Otto Andersen & Mario Cardano & Giuseppe Costa & Seeromanie Harding & Örjan Hemström & Richard Layte & Enrique Regidor & Alison Reid & Paula Santana & Tapani Valkonen & J, 2004. "Monitoring of trends in socioeconomic inequalities in mortality," Demographic Research Special Collections, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 2(9), pages 229-254.
    7. Dora L. Costa, 2003. "Health and Labor Force Participation over the Life Cycle: Evidence from the Past," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number cost03-1.
    8. Samuel H. Preston & Michael R. Haines, 1991. "Fatal Years: Child Mortality in Late Nineteenth-Century America," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number pres91-1.
    9. Costa, Dora L. (ed.), 2003. "Health and Labor Force Participation over the Life Cycle," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226116181, August.
    10. Bengtsson, Tommy & Dribe, Martin, 2011. "The late emergence of socioeconomic mortality differentials: A micro-level study of adult mortality in southern Sweden 1815-1968," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 389-400, July.
    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. Tommy Bengtsson & Martin Dribe & Jonas Helgertz, 2020. "When Did the Health Gradient Emerge? Social Class and Adult Mortality in Southern Sweden, 1813–2015," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(3), pages 953-977, June.
    2. Luque de Haro, Víctor A. & Pujadas-Mora, Joana M. & García-Gómez, José J., 2021. "Inequality in mortality in pre-industrial southern Europe during an epidemic episode: socio-economic determinants (eighteenth - nineteenth centuries Spain)," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).

    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. Gagnon, Alain & Tremblay, Marc & Vézina, Hélène & Seabrook, Jamie A., 2011. "Once were farmers: Occupation, social mobility, and mortality during industrialization in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec 1840-1971," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 429-440, July.
    2. Hannaliis Jaadla & Allan Puur & Kaja Rahu, 2017. "Socioeconomic and cultural differentials in mortality in a late 19th century urban setting: A linked records study from Tartu, Estonia, 1897-1900," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(1), pages 1-40.
    3. Bengtsson, Tommy & van Poppel, Frans, 2011. "Socioeconomic inequalities in death from past to present: An introduction," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 343-356, July.
    4. Luque de Haro, Víctor A. & Pujadas-Mora, Joana M. & García-Gómez, José J., 2021. "Inequality in mortality in pre-industrial southern Europe during an epidemic episode: socio-economic determinants (eighteenth - nineteenth centuries Spain)," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    5. Michael R. Haines & J. David Hacker, 2006. "The Puzzle of the Antebellum Fertility Decline in the United States: New Evidence and Reconsideration," NBER Working Papers 12571, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Su, Dejun, 2009. "Occupational career and risk of mortality among US Civil War Veterans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 460-468, August.
    7. Dora L. Costa, 2015. "Health and the Economy in the United States from 1750 to the Present," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 53(3), pages 503-570, September.
    8. Dora L. Costa, 2009. "The Health of Older Men in the Past," NBER Chapters, in: Health at Older Ages: The Causes and Consequences of Declining Disability among the Elderly, pages 21-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Edvinsson, Sören & Lindkvist, Marie, 2011. "Wealth and health in 19th Century Sweden. A study of social differences in adult mortality in the Sundsvall region," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 376-388, July.
    10. Rasmus Hoffmann, 2005. "Does the socioeconomic mortality gradient interact with age? Evidence from US survey data and Danish register data," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2005-020, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    11. Zehetmayer, Matthias, 2010. "An Anthropometric History of the Postbellum US, 1847-1894," Munich Dissertations in Economics 12321, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    12. Rasmus Hoffmann, 2004. "Does the impact of socioeconomic status on mortality decrease with increasing age?," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2004-016, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    13. Green, Tiffany L. & Hamilton, Tod G., 2013. "Beyond black and white: Color and mortality in post-reconstruction era North Carolina," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 148-159.
    14. Dora L. Costa & Joanna Lahey, 2003. "Becoming Oldest-Old: Evidence from Historical U.S. Data," NBER Working Papers 9933, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Larry E. Jones & Michele Tertilt, 2006. "An Economic History of Fertility in the U.S.: 1826-1960," NBER Working Papers 12796, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Lionel Kesztenbaum & Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, 2014. "Income versus Sanitation; Mortality Decline in Paris, 1880-1914," PSE Working Papers halshs-01018594, HAL.
    17. Luo, Ye & Zhang, Zhenmei & Gu, Danan, 2015. "Education and mortality among older adults in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 134-142.
    18. Marco-Gracia, Francisco J. & Puche, Javier, 2021. "The association between male height and lifespan in rural Spain, birth cohorts 1835-1939," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    19. Maarten Lindeboom & France Portrait & Gerard J. van den Berg, 2003. "Individual Mortality and Macro Economic Conditions from Birth to Death," CEIS Research Paper 42, Tor Vergata University, CEIS.
    20. David Cutler & Angus Deaton & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2006. "The Determinants of Mortality," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(3), pages 97-120, Summer.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sweden; life course analysis; old age mortality; social differences in mortality; Sundsvall region; 19th century;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:dem:demres:v:26:y:2012:i:23. 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: Editorial Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/ .

    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.