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The role of marriage in explaining racial and ethnic disparities in access to health care for men in the US

Author

Listed:
  • Yuriy Pylypchuk

    (Social and Scientific Systems, Inc.
    Georgetown University)

  • James B. Kirby

    (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)

Abstract

Reducing disparities in access to health care is a long-standing objective of the federal government. Building on research showing that marriage can provide important resources for obtaining needed health care, we suggest that racial and ethnic differences in marriage could explain persistent disparities in access. Using data from MEPS and NLSY we investigate the association between marriage and access to health care among men, and estimate the extent to which racial and ethnic differences in both the returns to marriage and marital rates explain differences in access and preventive service use. We find that marriage accounts for up to 24 % of racial and ethnic differences in access and preventive use. The returns to marriage for whites and blacks, however, are greater than that for Hispanics. We suggest that differences in spousal characteristics such as education and income could explain why whites and blacks benefit from marriage more than Hispanics. We find support for this hypothesis: differences in spousal characteristics account for up to 37 % of the gap in access and preventive use among married adults.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuriy Pylypchuk & James B. Kirby, 2017. "The role of marriage in explaining racial and ethnic disparities in access to health care for men in the US," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 807-832, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:reveho:v:15:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s11150-015-9300-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11150-015-9300-2
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    Cited by:

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    2. Matt Hampton & Otto Lenhart, 2019. "The effect of the Affordable Care Act preexisting conditions provision on marriage," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(11), pages 1345-1355, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Race; Marriage; Disparities; Access;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

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