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Is the Child Health / Family Income Gradient Universal? Evidence from England

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Author Info
Currie, Alison (University of Melbourne)
Shields, Michael A. () (University of Melbourne and IZA Bonn)
Wheatley Price, Stephen (University of Leicester and IZA Bonn)

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Abstract

In an influential study Case et al. (2002) documented a positive relationship between family income and child health in the US, with the slope of the gradient being larger for older than younger children. In this paper we explore the child health income gradient in England, which has a comprehensive publicly-funded National Health Service (NHS) founded on the twin principles of health care being free at the point of delivery and equality of access for the whole population. Our analysis is based on a sample of over 13,000 children (and their parents) drawn from the Health Survey for England. In accordance with Case et al. (2002), we find consistent and robust evidence of a significant family income gradient in child health using the subjective general health status measure. However, in England the size of the gradient is considerably smaller than that found for the US and we find no evidence that its slope increases with child age. We also provide new evidence that nutrition and family lifestyle choices have an important role in determining child health and that child health outcomes are highly correlated within the family. In addition, we find no evidence of an income gradient for objective indicators of child health, derived from nurse measurements and blood test results. Together our evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that the NHS has a protective effect on the health of children in England.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 1328.

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Length: 26 pages
Date of creation: Oct 2004
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1328

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Related research
Keywords: child health; income gradient; chronic illness; nutrition; lifestyle;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Anne Case & Darren Lubotsky & Christina Paxson, 2002. "Economic Status and Health in Childhood: The Origins of the Gradient," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1308-1334, December. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Janet Currie & Mark Stabile, 2003. "Socioeconomic Status and Child Health: Why Is the Relationship Stronger for Older Children?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1813-1823, December. [Downloadable!]
  3. Deaton, A., 1998. "Aging and Inequality in Income and Health," Papers 181, Princeton, Woodrow Wilson School - Development Studies.
    Other versions:
  4. Anne Case & Ingrid Le Roux & Alicia Menendez, 2004. "Medical Compliance and Income-Health Gradients," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 331-335, May. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Paul Contoyannis & Andrew M. Jones & Nigel Rice, 2004. "The dynamics of health in the British Household Panel Survey," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(4), pages 473-503. [Downloadable!]
  6. Paul Frijters & John P. Haisken-DeNew & Michael Shields, 2003. "Estimating The Causal Effect of Income on Health: Evidence from Post Reunification East Germany," CEPR Discussion Papers 465, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. [Downloadable!]
  7. Culyer, A. J. & Wagstaff, Adam, 1993. "Equity and equality in health and health care," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 431-457, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. James P. Smith, 1999. "Healthy Bodies and Thick Wallets: The Dual Relation between Health and Economic Status," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 145-166, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Jonathan Meer & Douglas L. Miller & Harvey S. Rosen, 2003. "Exploring the Health-Wealth Nexus," NBER Working Papers 9554, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Propper, Carol, 2000. "The demand for private health care in the UK," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 855-876, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Janet Currie & Rosemary Hyson, 1999. "Is the Impact of Health Shocks Cushioned by Socioeconomic Status? The Case of Low Birthweight," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 245-250, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Adams, Peter & Hurd, Michael D. & McFadden, Daniel & Merrill, Angela & Ribeiro, Tiago, 2003. "Healthy, wealthy, and wise? Tests for direct causal paths between health and socioeconomic status," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 3-56, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Janet Currie, 2004. "Viewpoint: Child research comes of age," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 37(3), pages 509-527, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Salm, Martin & Schunk, Daniel, 2008. "The Role of Childhood Health for the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital: Evidence from Administrative Data," IZA Discussion Papers 3646, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Alison Booth & Nick Carroll, 2005. "The Health Status of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians," CEPR Discussion Papers 486, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Carol Propper & John Rigg & Simon Burgess, 2007. "Child health: evidence on the roles of family income and maternal mental health from a UK birth cohort," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(11), pages 1245-1269. [Downloadable!]
  4. Carol Propper & John Rigg, 2005. "Health supplier quality and the distribution of child health," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 05/123, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK. [Downloadable!]
  5. Doyle, Orla & Harmon, Colm & Walker, Ian, 2005. "The Impact of Parental Income and Education on the Health of their Children," CEPR Discussion Papers 5359, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Doyle, Orla & Harmon, Colm & Walker, Ian, 2007. "The Impact of Parental Income and Education on Child Health : Further Evidence for England," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 788, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. repec:cep:sticas:0102 is not listed on IDEAS
  8. Marcus Tamm, 2005. "The Effect of Poverty on the Health of Newborn Children – Evidence from Germany," RWI Discussion Papers 0033, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung. [Downloadable!]
  9. Paul Frijters & Michael A. Shields & Stephen Wheatley Price & Jenny Williams, 2006. "Quantifying the Cost of Passive Smoking on Child Health: Evidence from Children’s Cotinine Samples," IZA Discussion Papers 2219, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  10. Lokshin, Michael & Ravallion, Martin, 2005. "Searching for the economic gradient in self-assessed health," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3698, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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