The Evolution of Income-related Health Inequalities in Switzerland Over Time

Abstract

This article presents new evidence on income-related health inequality and its development over time in Switzerland. We employ the methods lined out in Van Doorslaer and Jones (2003, “Inequalities in self-reported health: validation of a new approach to measurement”, Journal of Health Economics22(1), 61–78) and Van Doorslaer and Koolman (2004, “Explaining the differences in income-related health inequalities across European Countries”, Health Economics22(7), 609–628) measuring health using an interval regression approach to compute concentration indices and decomposing inequality into its determining factors. Nationally representative survey data for 1982, 1992, 1997, and 2002 are used to carry out the analysis. Looking at each of the four years separately the results indicates the usual positive relationship between income and health, but the distribution is among the least unequal in Europe. No clear trend emerges in the evolution of the inequality indices over the two decades. A small but significant increase over the first 15 years is followed by stabilization if not a slight decrease in total income-related health inequality. The most important contributors to health inequality are income, education and activity status, in particular, retirement. Regional differences including the widely varying health care supply, in contrast, do not exert any systematic influence. (JEL codes: D32, I10, I12)

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