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Socio-economic inequalities in bodily pain over the life cycle: longitudinal evidence from Australia, Britain and Germany

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  • Stefanie Schurer
  • Michael A. Shields
  • Andrew M. Jones

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="rssa12058-abs-0001"> We document the extent of socio-economic status (SES) inequalities in bodily pain in Australia, Britain and Germany, with a particular focus on whether such inequalities widen over the life course. Random-effects logistic and kernel regressions are used to estimate odds ratios of experiencing severe pain by income, educational qualification and occupational status, and to graph age–pain profiles, while accounting for individual heterogeneity. Cohort level regression analysis is used to control for cohort effects. Low SES is consistently related to higher levels of bodily pain in each country and inequalities widen with increasing age. The odds of experiencing severe bodily pain for individuals in the lowest, relative to the highest, household income quartile is up to two times higher, whereas the odds for those with minimum relative to university education are up to three times higher. For each country, the odds of experiencing severe pain by machine operators are around three times higher than for professionals. Maximum levels, and maximum SES differences in pain, are both reached at around age 60 years, with the differentials ranging between 0.2 and 0.7 of sample standard deviations. No convergence of pain profiles is observed by age 70 years. Controlling for cohort effects in the Australian data confirms the results from the age group analysis. Taken together these results suggest that low SES and manual work have cumulative health effects over the life cycle.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefanie Schurer & Michael A. Shields & Andrew M. Jones, 2014. "Socio-economic inequalities in bodily pain over the life cycle: longitudinal evidence from Australia, Britain and Germany," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 177(4), pages 783-806, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jorssa:v:177:y:2014:i:4:p:783-806
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/rssa.2014.177.issue-4
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    Cited by:

    1. Schurer, Stefanie & de New, Sonja C. & Leung, Felix, 2015. "Do Universities Shape Their Students' Personality?," IZA Discussion Papers 8873, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Sonja Spitzer, 2020. "Biases in health expectancies due to educational differences in survey participation of older Europeans: It’s worth weighting for," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(4), pages 573-605, June.
    3. Gensowski, Miriam & Gørtz, Mette & Schurer, Stefanie, 2021. "Inequality in personality over the life cycle," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 46-77.
    4. Watson Nicole & Wooden Mark, 2021. "The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 241(1), pages 131-141, February.
    5. Strulik, Holger, 2021. "From pain patient to junkie: An economic theory of painkiller consumption and its impact on wellbeing and longevity," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    6. Schurer, Stefanie, 2015. "Lifecycle patterns in the socioeconomic gradient of risk preferences," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 482-495.
    7. Tang, Cheng Keat & Macchia, Lucía & Powdthavee, Nattavudh, 2023. "Income is more protective against pain in more equal countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    8. Macchia, Lucía & Oswald, Andrew J., 2021. "Physical pain, gender, and the state of the economy in 146 nations," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).

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