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Self-Rated Health and Socioeconomic Status in Old Age: The Role of Gender and the Moderating Effect of Time and Welfare Regime in Europe

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  • Aviad Tur-Sinai

    (Department of Health Systems Management, The Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, Yezreel Valley 1930600, Israel
    The Minerva Center on Intersectionality in Aging (MCIA), University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel)

  • Amira Paz

    (Healthy Aging, Tel-Aviv 6433222, Israel)

  • Israel Doron

    (The Minerva Center on Intersectionality in Aging (MCIA), University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
    Department of Gerontology, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel)

Abstract

Research has shown that health status and self-rated health (SRH) are correlated not only with age and gender but also with socioeconomic determinants, such as income, education, and employment status, in the course of life and in late life. Much less investigated, however, are gender differences in the association between socioeconomic factors and SRH and how the connection differs among the European welfare state regimes. This study examines the association between SRH and socioeconomic status in later life and in relation to gender and welfare state regime characteristics. Using SHARE data, it builds an analytical sample of respondents aged 60–70 (1275 men, 1544 women) who participated in Wave 1 and, ten years later, in Wave 6. The analysis regresses SRH by gender on socioeconomic status, controlling for various sociodemographic, health, and socioeconomic variables, as well as welfare regime indicators, at two points in time. Past health variables are also controlled for in order to evaluate their effect on SRH at the time of the investigation. A significant gender gap in SRH is found from childhood to late life. The association of socioeconomic status with poorer SRH is significant over time and within welfare state regimes. Consequently, the relationship between gender and SRH, and the extent to which it varies by socioeconomic position, does appear to differ across welfare state regimes. In all regimes and all points in time, including retrospective childhood SRH, women report poorer health than men. The analysis underscores the association between SRH and socioeconomic status in relation to gender in late life and finds that it correlates differently for men and women. The odds of women experiencing poorer SRH are higher, although they become more moderate over time. Even under the most egalitarian welfare regimes, gender differences in the nexus of SRH and socioeconomic status do not favor women.

Suggested Citation

  • Aviad Tur-Sinai & Amira Paz & Israel Doron, 2022. "Self-Rated Health and Socioeconomic Status in Old Age: The Role of Gender and the Moderating Effect of Time and Welfare Regime in Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-17, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:7:p:4240-:d:786060
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