Policy Implications Of The Gradient Of Health And Wealth
- 1 March 2002
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Health Affairs (Project Hope) in Health Affairs
- Vol. 21 (2), 13-30
- https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.21.2.13
Abstract
Men in the United States with family incomes in the top 5 percent of the distribution in 1980 had about 25 percent longer to live than did those in the bottom 5 percent. Proportional increases in income are associated with equal proportional decreases in mortality throughout the income distribution. I discuss possible reasons for this gradient and ask whether it calls for the redistribution of income in the interest of public health. I argue that the existence of the gradient strengthens the case for income redistribution in favor of the poor but that targeting health inequalities would not be sound policy.Keywords
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