Income inequality again
- From: Lance <lancegary@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 9 May 2012 01:55:21 -0700 (PDT)
Income inequality leads to more US deaths, study finds
May 8th, 2012 in Health
A new study provides the best evidence to date that higher levels of
income inequality in the United States actually lead to more deaths in
the country over a period of years.
The findings suggest that income inequality at any one point doesn't
work instantaneously - it begins increasing mortality rates 5 years
later, and its influence peaks after 7 years, before fading after 12
"This finding is striking and it supports the argument that income
inequality is a public health concern," said Hui Zheng, author of the
study and assistant professor of sociology at Ohio State University.
The study appears online in the journal Social Science and Medicine
and will be published in a future print edition.
Many other studies have examined the impact of income inequality on
mortality and have come up with mixed results, according to Zheng. But
he thinks that this study overcomes problems in previous research by
using a different data structure and statistical model (called a
discrete-time hazard model).
Zheng used data from the U.S. National Health Interview Survey from
1986 to 2004 with mortality follow-up data from 1986-2006. His final
sample included more than 700,000 people aged 30 and up.
The study measured income inequality using three different methods,
including the most commonly used metric - the Gini coefficient,
calculated by the U.S. Census Bureau. All three methods resulted in
The Gini coefficient ranges in value from 0 (indicating complete
equality, with everyone earning the same income) to 1 (complete
inequality, with one person earning all income).
The Gini coefficient has been steadily rising in the United States in
recent decades, from .403 in 1980 to .469 in 2010.
In this study, Zheng found that a 0.01 rise in the Gini coefficient
increases the cumulative odds of death by 122 percent in the following
12 years. This is after taking into account a wide variety of factors
that may also influence mortality, including a person's age, gender,
race, marital status, education, work status and family income.
"Income inequality has a substantial effect on mortality," he said.
But if income inequality does indeed affect mortality rates, why have
other studies found mixed results? Zheng reviewed 79 previous studies
to look for the reasons. The 11 best studies looked at income
inequality at a particular point in time to see how it affected
mortality rates at a specified time later.
"But current mortality isn't just affected by income inequality at one
time, say 10 years ago. It is also affected by income inequality 9
years ago, and 11 years ago, and the current level of inequality, and
so on," he said.
In this study, Zheng was able to look at deaths in a particular year
and control for income inequality for each of up to 21 years preceding
"For the first time, we can clearly capture the long-term effect of
income inequality on health," he said. "Previous studies are likely to
miss the effect if the mortality follow-up period is too short for
income inequality to exert its impact or too long for income
inequality to maintain its influence."
Other scholars have hypothesized why income inequality may lead to
higher death rates. One reason may be that, in countries with rising
income inequality, the interests of the wealthy tend to diverge from
the rest of society. The wealthiest people may push government for
more services for themselves, rather than invest in public goods like
education or affordable medical services - services that can affect
health for the majority of people.
In addition, inequality reduces social cohesion and trust, which
studies suggest is important to individual health.
Finally, inequality may create a culture of upward comparison, where
many people see the lifestyles of the rich and feel they can't live up
to expectations. That can lead to negative views of themselves,
frustration and depression, which have been linked to sickness and
"None of these negative factors caused by income inequality will have
an immediate effect on chronic illness and mortality," Zheng said.
"But over time they take a toll on health, which can eventually lead
to sickness and death. That's why this study found that it takes 5
years for the effects of income inequality to appear."
These results also support findings from a 2009 study by Zheng that
examined how income inequality affected Americans' self-rated health.
That study found that the dramatic increase in income inequality from
1972 to 2004 increased the odds of worse self-rated health by 9.4
percent. That study only looked at the instantaneous impact on self-
rated health. The impact should be even larger if it had taken into
account the long term impact, he said.
"The evidence is growing clearer that income inequality has a long-
term detrimental impact on individual health and mortality," he said.
Provided by The Ohio State University
"Income inequality leads to more US deaths, study finds." May 8th,
- Prev by Date: Re: Psychopathy and brain structures, again
- Next by Date: Re: A false dichotomy?
- Previous by thread: Psychopathy and brain structures, again
- Next by thread: Re: Income inequality again