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Socioeconomic Position and Health

The Differential Effects of Education versus Income on the Onset versus Progression of Health Problems

Bibliographic Data

ID2316248
AuthorsPamela Herd (0000-0002-0137-5846, Pamela Herd is an Assistant Professor of Public Affairs and Sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her current research examines the relationship between socioeconomic factors, aging, and health.), Brian Goesling (0000-0002-5311-8550, Brian Goesling is a sociologist at Mathematica Policy Research in Princeton, New Jersey. His current research examines recent trends in global social inequalities and the changing consequences of education for adult health and longevity.), James S House (Institute for Social Research)
Year2007
Volume48
Issue3
Pages223-238
Publication date2007-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Health and Social Behavior (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-1465 • E-ISSN: 2150-6000
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/002214650704800302
PMID17982865
OpenAlexW2053125924
LanguageEN
Citations received145
References cited29

This article seeks to elucidate the relationship between socioeconomic position and health by showing how different facets of socioeconomic position (education and income) affect different stages (onset vs. progression) of health problems. The biomedical literature has generally treated socioeconomic position as a unitary construct. Likewise, the social science literature has tended to treat health as a unitary construct. To advance our understanding of the relationship between socioeconomic position and health, and ultimately to foster appropriate policies and practices to improve population health, a more nuanced approach is required-one that differentiates theoretically and empirically among dimensions of both socioeconomic position and health. Using data from the Americans' Changing Lives Study (1986 through 2001/2002), we show that education is more predictive than income of the onset of both functional limitations and chronic conditions, while income is more strongly associated than education with the progression of both

Affect (linguistics) · Construct (python library) · Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Health care · Health equity · Political science · Population · Position (finance) · Social class · Social position · Social relation · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · Unitary state · Demography · Employment and Welfare Studies · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations · Health disparities and outcomes · Psychology · Social Psychology

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Unique citing works145
Citations per year8,06
Citation span2008 - 2026 (19)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedYes
Citation typesNeutral: 140
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