Social and Economic Circumstances of Sex Differentials in Poor Health of Elderly Population

The goal of this paper is to improve our knowledge about the changes that occur in the health of people near pension age and above in the countries of the European Union. We focus on the gender differentials in the poor health transition of the elderly population and especially the impact of the social and economic circumstances. We examine whether or not the pattern of transition to bad health status is the same for men and women, what are the circumstances that determine their behaviour and in the same time have significant influence on the European Union countries population. Our findings show that bad health can be restricted predominantly within most advanced ages and in this way is possible to improve the quality of life both for males and females. The study shows the adequacy of social and economic factors for the transitions to poor health. The income variables are significant predictors for the change of health status to poor health of elderly men and women. Belonging to the highest two income quintiles is significant for men and not for women. Some possible new strategies concern further development of policies that aim is to decrease the female disadvantage during the period of poor health transition by removing the inequality of the social and economic conditions of life between men and women.