Inequality in education, income, and health

International socio-economic studies demonstrate large differences in health in the Nordic countries. This despite the fact that the Nordic countries are egalitarian societies where we according to economic theory would expect a more equal level of health in the population than in less egalitarian societies. In this project we want to elucidate the reasons for these results.

A characteristic of the Nordic countries is that there is a relatively even distribution of income. Nevertheless, studies indicates large differences in health in the Nordic countries. Is this due to differences in social status? Photo: stock photo media

About the project

The project seeks to explain why the Nordic countries, with egalitarian income structure, show the largest differences in health between socioeconomic classes. Epidemiological studies suggest that social status is a key explanatory factor behind differences in health, and we combine this with economic modeling of social status. A main hypothesis is that in egalitarian countries with equal opportunities, low status is a strong signal of personal defeat, and therefore provide greater social stress, which again gives stronger effects on health.

Project participants are working along two lines. First, we carefully review the relevant literature on the relationship between social/economic differences (SES) and health inequality in the population, where we particularly focus on the analysis that is relevant to the peculiar strong relationship between SES and health inequalities in the Scandinavian countries. On this basis, we have written an overview of the literature linking status and health, and that is particularly relevant to a theoretical analysis. Here we draw on contributions from a variety of disciplines. The project is therefore in the refractive field of medicine, economics and social psychology.

Second, we develop a theoretical model based on the hypothesis outlined above, which may explain why the social dimension to such an extent contributes to health disparities. The main hypothesis indicates then that because social mobility is high in countries like Norway and Sweden, to not succeed in one's quest for high social status can hardly be explained as a result of social barriers, such as a strong social stratification in the society. We will also look at the empirical measures used to measure social inequalities in health. Could some properties of the measures explain high social differences in health in egalitarian countries?

Objectives

We want to develop a model that can explain why the social dimension to such an extent contribute to health disparities. We will also investigate how the empirical measures of social health inequalities will be affected by egalitarian policies.