Dynamic changes in determinants of inequalities in health in Europe with a focus on retirement

Abstract

Equity in health and health care is an important health policy objective in most European countries (OECD, 2013, 2017), and a number of empirical studies have shown the existence of inequities. Of particular interest are the contributions to socioeconomic inequality in health from being retired because retirees most often have lower income and lower health status relative to their working peers. Demographic changes in an ageing society add further to the importance of investigating inequalities in health among the retired. Earlier studies of health inequality across European countries have shown different results with respect to retirement status as a determinant of health inequality. Furthermore, the development over time in this contribution, i.e., as to whether it has increased or decreased, remains unexplored. Access to international comparative data from European countries, however, allows comparative studies of the determinants of income-related inequalities in a population’s health. The present paper contributes to the literature on the association between retirement and income-related health inequality by looking further into the contribution from three groups of retired individuals (younger than 65 years; 65–74 years; 75 years and older) to income-related inequalities in health with focus on the development in this contribution over time. The study is based on data from the first and the seventh waves 1 Corresponding author.