Have Health Inequalities Increased during the Covid-19 Pandemic? Evidence from Recent Years for Older European Union Citizens

Bibliographic Data

ID15507305
AuthorsIrene González Rodríguez (0000-0002-6712-3254, Universidad de Cantabria, corresponding author), Marta Pascual Sáez (0000-0002-4697-5247, Universidad de Cantabria), David Cantarero Prieto (Instituto de Investigación Marqués de Valdecilla)
Year2022
Volume19
Issue13
Pages7812-7812
Publication date2022-06-25
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph19137812
PMID35805469
OpenAlexW4283525912
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited19

Reducing inequality is one of the current challenges that most societies are facing. Our aim was to analyze the evolution of inequalities in self-assessed health among older Europeans in a time period spanning the 2008 economic crisis and the COVID-19 health crisis. We used data from Waves 2, 4 and 8 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. We used inequality indices that accept ordinal variables. Our empirical results suggest that average inequality declines over time. Gender significantly influences the results. Some of the countries with the highest level of inequality are Denmark and Sweden, and some with the lowest are Estonia and the Netherlands. Our results may be of interest for the development of public policies to reduce inequalities. Special attention should be paid to vulnerable groups, such as the elderly

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Demographic economics · Development economics · Economics · Empirical evidence · European union · Inequality · Pandemic · Political science · Public health · Social inequality · Employment and Welfare Studies · Global Health Care Issues · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine

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