Absolute Income Inequality Research Articles

Architecture of the Indonesia Welfare State: The reflection of 20 years of Indonesia Reformation Era

After Asian Economic Crisis (AEC) hit many of Asian countries in 1997, Indonesia and Asian countries are experiencing crisis and change, Indonesia had transformed its economic and political structured. From centralistic to be more decentralised. Indonesia has produced various economic policy to recover the destructive of the crisis which has impacted not only on economic dimension but also other dimensions. Alongside of massive economic and political changing, Indonesia also realised to reform its social policy system to protect people especially the lower middle class during the crisis. During 20 years from 1998-2018 Indonesia has a massive transformation in terms of social policy and strengthening their architecture of welfare state. Using several data from various journal articles and research reports which has been analysed through qualitative content analysis this paper is aimed to understand how Indonesia has been committing to address absolute poverty and income inequality. The results of the study found that Indonesia has transforming their social policy to be more institutionalised to tackle poverty and income inequality.

Income mortality paradox by immigrants’ duration of residence in Sweden: a population register-based study

BackgroundStudies have shown that, compared with the general native population, immigrants display weaker or absent income gradients in mortality. The aim of this study is to examine the extent to...

Inequalities in dental service utilization among Thai adults from 2000 to 2017.

The Universal Coverage Health Scheme (UCS) was implemented in Thailand in 2002 to increase access to health services among the Thai population. This study aimed to evaluate socioeconomic inequalities in dental service utilization (DU) before and after UCS implementation and to assess factors associated with DU among Thai adults. This study is based on secondary data from four Thai national oral health surveys in 2000-2001, 2006-2007, 2012 and 2017. Whether an individual from a nationally representative sample of Thai adults aged 35-44 went to see the dentist during the past year was used to define DU. The slope index of inequality (SII) and relative index of inequality (RII) were used to assess and compare education and income-related inequalities in DU. Poisson regression was used to assess factors associated with DU. Income inequalities were not reported for the year 2001 (Income data not available). Although DU increased after UCS implementation, socioeconomic inequalities persisted. DU was concentrated among high-education and income groups. Absolute educational inequalities were 0.16 (95% CI: 0.09-0.22), 0.21 (95% CI: 0.10-0.32), 0.26 (95% CI: 0.14-0.38) and 0.25 (95% CI: 0.18-0.32) in 2001, 2007, 2012 and 2017, respectively. Absolute income inequalities were 0.15 (95% CI: 0.04-0.26), 0.07 (95% CI: -0.04-0.18) and 0.12 (95% CI: 0.05-0.19) in 2007, 2012 and 2017, respectively. Occupation, type of health insurance scheme, sex and oral health-related behaviour were associated with DU. UCS has improved accessibility to dental services, but UCS alone might not narrow the inequalities gap for Thai adults.

Education and income-related inequalities in multimorbidity among older Brazilian adults.

This study aimed to evaluate the existence of socioeconomic inequalities related to the prevalence of multimorbidity in the Brazilian population aged 60 and older. This was a cross-sectional study with data from the last Brazilian National Health Survey (PNS) collected in 2019. Multimorbidity was the dependent variable and was defined as the presence of two or more chronic diseases. All the diseases were assessed based on a self-reported previous medical diagnosis. Education and per capita family income were the measures of socioeconomic position. Socioeconomic inequalities related to multimorbidity were assessed using two complex measures of inequality; the Slope Index of Inequality (SII) and the Concentration Index (CI). The prevalence of multimorbidity in Brazil was 56.5% 95% CI (55.4; 57.6) and varied from 46.9% (44.3; 49.6) in the North region to 59.3% (57.0; 61.5) in the South region. In general, individuals with higher socioeconomic positions had a lower prevalence of multimorbidity. Significant absolute and relative income inequalities were observed in the South region [SII -9.0; CI -0.054], Southeast [SII -9.8; CI -0.06], and Middle-east [SII -10.4; CI -0.063]. Absolute and relative education inequalities were significant for the country and two of its regions (Southeast [SII -12.7; CI -0.079] and South [SII -19.0; CI -0.109]). The prevalence of multimorbidity is high in Brazil and all of its macro-regions. The significant findings concerning the inequalities suggest that the distribution of this condition is more concentrated among those with lower education and income.

Cash instead of subsidy: Assessing the impact of the iranian energy subsidy reform on households

The 2010 energy subsidy reform in Iran is a unique case of redistributive policy as the savings from the subsidy cut have been redirected to households as unconditional, universal cash transfer. While theoretically, the cash transfer was large enough to keep the utility of the average household at the initial level, this study explores the practical impacts of the reform. We analyze panel data on income/expenditure of Iranian households for the period 2010–2012. Since this is a universal reform, we exploit the time dimension and the intensity of energy consumption in the identification and assess the robustness of the results with sub-sample and placebo analyses. Overall, the energy subsidy reform caused a significant shrinkage (7%–9%) in households' real consumption. The cash transfer failed to fully compensate the negative impact of the subsidy removal. The impact is heterogeneous, varying along the intensity of energy consumption, geographical location, income and the share of the cash transfer in a household's income. A non-negligible policy accomplishment of the reform is that within its first two years poverty was mitigated in absolute and relative terms and income inequality slightly improved. Nevertheless, the government is under pressure because inflation counteracts these gains.

The Relationship Between Absolute Poverty Income Inequality in Rural and Urban Areas in Indonesia: The Granger Causality Approach

This study aims to determine the relationship between poverty and inequality in rural and urban areas by using the Granger causality test approach. This research method uses the Granger causality test analysis tool with rural and urban areas as objects in all provinces in Indonesia with use data from thirty four province and period year from 2014 until 2020. The results of the Granger causality test for rural areas show that there is a realtionship unidirectional relationship between poverty and inequality, the relationship shows significant inequality that causes poverty in rural areas, that meaning in rural area absolute poverty happen because inequality income distribution, while the results of causality tests for urban areas show that there is no relationship at all between poverty and inequality in the urban areas. that meaning In urban areas no causality between absolute poverty and inequality income distribution, this result shows that poverty and inequality in urban areas do not contain a direct one way or two-way relationship.

Income Inequality and Health Self-Assessment in Russia1

ABSTRACT This article looks at income’s effect on the health and well-being of Russians. In particular, it studies the effect of income on health self-assessments by describing the interactions between these factors, analyzing them, and modeling them econometrically. Based on panel data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) of public health and economic status, a pooled generalized ordered logit regression was constructed for the categorical variable “deteriorating self-assessment of health.” It calculates the marginal effects of the model’s independent variables (different income groups, the Gini coefficient, and others) for three different self-assessments of health (good, average, and poor). Econometric modeling showed that Russia satisfies the absolute income and income inequality hypotheses and that there is a statistically significant correlation between income, its inequality (Gini coefficient of income differentiation), and self-assessment of health. It was discovered in a number of specifications that the effect of income on health self-assessment is greater in men than in women. This is apparently linked to the greater involvement of men in the labor market. The results suggest that a government policy to increase incomes and reduce regional differentiation could improve the public’s subjective perceptions of health.

Revisiting the Effects of Organized Mammography Programs on Inequalities in Breast Screening Uptake: A Multilevel Analysis of Nationwide Data From 1997 to 2017.

This study revisits the effects of mammography screening programs on inequalities in breast screening uptake in Switzerland. The progressive introduction of regional mammography programs by 12 out of the 26 Swiss cantons (regions) since 1999 offers an opportunity to perform an ecological quasi-experimental study. We examine absolute income and marital status inequalities in mammography uptake, and whether the cantons' implementation of mammography programs moderate these inequalities, as previous research has devoted little attention to this. We use five waves of the Swiss Health Interview Survey covering the 1997–2017 period and comprising data on 14,267 women aged 50–70. Both up-to-date and ever-screening outcomes are analyzed with multilevel models which assess the mammography programs' within-canton effect. Findings show that higher income women and married women (compared to unmarried women) had significantly higher mammography uptake probabilities. Mammography programs did not moderate absolute income differences in up-to-date screening; however, they were associated with smaller absolute income differences in ever-screening uptake. Mammography programs related to higher screening uptake for married women, more than for unmarried women. In conclusion, we showed absolute income inequalities in mammography uptake which were not revealed by previous studies using relative inequality measures. Mammography programs may have contributed to reducing income inequalities in ever-screening, yet this was not observed for up-to-date screening. This study has implication for preventive health interventions—e.g., cancer screening promotion should pay attention to women's marital status since screening programs may widen the screening gap between married and unmarried women.

Income inequality and housing prices in the very long‐run

AbstractWe examine the relationship between income inequality and house prices for a panel of 17 OECD countries over the period 1870 to 2015. Our identification strategy takes advantage of exogenous variation in culturally weighted communist influence to instrument for within‐country variations in income inequality. Controlling for endogeneity, time, and country fixed effects, our results suggest that an increase in income inequality has a significant negative effect on real house prices. This finding is robust to the use of both the Gini coefficient and top income share as measures of income inequality and the use of absolute and relative income inequality measures, as well as a range of other robustness checks. We examine crime as a mechanism through which income inequality influences housing prices and find that the theft rate is a channel via which higher income inequality contributes to lower house prices.

Modelling the potential for parenting skills interventions to reduce inequalities and population prevalence of children's mental health problems: Evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study.

Parenting programmes can improve parenting quality and, in turn, children's mental health. If scaled-up, they have the potential to reduce population inequalities and prevalence in child mental health problems (MHP). However, this cannot be investigated with trials. Using data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (18,000 children born 2000–2002), we simulated population impact of scale-up of seven parenting programmes. Predicted probabilities of child MHP (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) by household income quintile (Risk ratios [RRs] and differences [RDs], 95% confidence intervals [CI]) were estimated from logistic marginal structural models, adjusting for parenting quality scores (Child-Parent Relationship Scale at 3 years) and confounders. The impact of scaling-up parenting programmes was simulated by re-estimating predicted probabilities of child MHP after increasing parenting scores according to intervention intensity, targeting mechanisms and programme uptake levels. Analyses included data from 14,399 children, with survey weights and multiple imputation addressing sampling design, attrition and item missingness. Prevalence of child MHP at 5 years was 11.3% (11.4% unadjusted), with relative and absolute income inequalities (RR = 4.8[95%CI:3.6–5.9]; RD = 15.8%[13.4–18.2]). In simulations, universal, non-intensive parenting programmes reduced prevalence (9.4%) and absolute inequalities (RR = 5.0[95%CI:3.8–6.2]; RD = 13.6%[11.5–15.7]). Intensive programmes, targeting a range of potential risk criteria (e.g. receipt of means-tested benefits), reduced inequalities (RR = 4.0[95%CI:3.0–4.9]; RD = 12.4%[10.3–14.6] and, to a lesser extent, prevalence (10.3%). By simulating implementation of parenting programmes, we show that universal non-intensive and targeted intensive approaches have the potential to reduce child MHP at population level, and to reduce but not eliminate inequalities, with important implications for future policy and practice.

The potential impact of an implemented income redistribution package on obesity prevalence in New Zealand.

This study quantified associations between (absolute and relative) individual income and obesity prevalence. These associations were then used to model the potential effect of a New Zealand (NZ) Government's income redistributive policy (the Families Package) on adult obesity prevalence. Logistic regressions were used to investigate associations between absolute individual income and adult obesity prevalence in NZ. Linear regressions were used to assess associations between relative income (income inequality measured by Gini) and obesity prevalence (from the NCD-RisC) for OECD countries. Potential impact fractions were calculated to determine how income redistribution might affect obesity prevalence. Absolute individual disposable income was significantly associated with obesity in NZ females (but not males) in a shallow, inverted J-shaped fashion. Income inequality was significantly positively associated with obesity prevalence in NZ females but not in males. The Families Package had a modest effect on income distribution and reduced Gini in NZ by 1.43%. Female obesity prevalence in NZ was modelled to decrease by 0.12 percentage points and 0.98 percentage points due to changes to absolute income and income inequality, respectively. Despite being the most substantial income tax package in New Zealand since the 1990s, this policy had a modest effect on income redistribution, and its expected impact on reducing obesity in females was also modest, with no effect in males. The J-shaped curve indicates that income redistribution could even increase obesity prevalence among low-income women.

Forecasting stock market (realized) volatility in the United Kingdom: Is there a role of inequality?

AbstractIn this paper, we analyze the potential role of growth in inequality for forecasting realized volatility of the stock market of the UK. In our forecasting exercise, we use linear and nonlinear models as well as measures of absolute and relative consumption and income inequalities at quarterly frequency over the period of 1975 to 2016. Our results indicate that, while linear models incorporating the information of growth in inequality does produce lower forecast errors, these models do not necessarily outperform the univariate linear and nonlinear models based on formal statistical forecast comparison tests, especially in short‐ to medium runs. However, at a one‐year‐ahead horizon, absolute measure of consumption inequality results in significant statistical gains for stock market volatility predictions – possibly due to consumption inequality translating into both political and social uncertainty in the long run.

Oral Health Inequalities among Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Children.

Our ability to address child oral health inequalities would be greatly facilitated by a more nuanced understanding of whether underlying disease experience or treatment opportunities account for a larger share of differences between social groups. This is particularly relevant in the context of population subgroups who are socially marginalized, such as Australia's Indigenous population. The decayed, missing, and filled (dmf) surfaces index is at once a reflection of dental caries experience (d) and its management (m and f). To 1) describe socioeconomic inequalities in dental caries experience and its management among Indigenous and non-Indigenous children and 2) compare these inequalities using absolute and relative measures. Data were from the Australian National Child Oral Health Study 2012-2014. Absolute and relative income inequalities were assessed for overall dmfs and its individual components (ds, ms, fs) using adjusted means and health disparity indices (Slope Index of Inequality [SII] and Relative Index of Inequality [RII]). Mean dmfs among Indigenous children aged 5 to 10 y was 6.4 (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.4-7.4), ranging from 2.3 in the highest to 9.1 in the lowest income group. Mean dmfs among non-Indigenous children was 2.9 (95% CI, 2.8-3.1), ranging from 1.9 in the highest to 4.2 in the lowest income group. Age- and gender-adjusted social gradients for Indigenous children were evident across all dmfs components but were particularly notable for ds (SII = -4.6, RII = -1.7) and fs (SII = -3.2, RII = -1.5). The social gradients for non-Indigenous children were much lower in magnitude: ds (SII = -1.8, RII = -1.6) and fs (SII = -0.7, RII = -0.5). Our findings suggest that socioeconomic disadvantage may translate into both higher disease experience and increased use of dental services for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups, with the social gradients being much more amplified among Indigenous children. The findings of this study demonstrate the magnitude of disparities in dental caries among children by population groups in Australia. Our results suggest that the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and poor oral health is more deleterious among Indigenous than non-Indigenous children. Tackling upstream determinants of health might not only affect population patterns of health and disease but also mitigate the overwhelming racial inequalities in oral health between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Неравенство в доходе и самооценка здоровья в России

<span>Статья посвящена проблеме влияния доходов на здоровье и благополучие россиян. А именно целью исследования является изучение влияния разницы в доходах граждан на их самооценку здоровья через описание, анализ и эконометрическое моделирование взаимосвязи этих факторов. На основе панельных данных опроса Российского мониторинга экономического положения и здоровья населения (РМЭЗ) были построены объединенные обобщенные порядковые логистические регрессии для категориальной переменной «ухудшающаяся самооценка здоровья». Были рассчитаны предельные эффекты влияния на самооценку здоровья различных доходных групп, коэффициента Джини и остальных независимых переменных моделей для трех категорий самооценки (хорошее, среднее, плохое). Эконометрическое моделирование показало, что в России выполняются гипотезы абсолютного дохода и неравенства доходов и существует статистически значимая взаимосвязь между уровнем дохода, его неравенством (коэффициентом дифференциации дохода Джини) и самооценкой здоровья. В ряде спецификаций выявлено, что у мужчин доход сильнее влияет на самооценку здоровья, чем у женщин; по-видимому, это связано с их большей вовлеченностью в рынок труда. Полученные результаты позволяют предположить, что государственная политика по увеличению доходов населения и сокращению региональной дифференциации способна привести к улучшению субъективного восприятия здоровья населением.</span>

Trends in socioeconomic inequalities in self-rated health in Germany: a time-trend analysis of repeated cross-sectional health surveys between 2003 and 2012

ObjectivesThis study assessed the extent of educational and income inequalities in self-rated health (SRH) in the German adult population between 2003 and 2012 and how these inequalities changed over time.DesignRepeated...

Absolute income inequality and rising house prices

AbstractIncome inequality and house prices have risen sharply in developed countries during 1975–2010. In line with theoretical models, we argue that this co-movement is no coincidence, but that inequality has driven up house prices on the grounds that it raises the aggregate demand for housing. Our results suggest that absolute inequality and house prices in most Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries were positively correlated and cointegrated, whereas relative inequality and mean income were not significant long-run determinants. This finding indicates that the surge in OECD house prices in part can be explained by a top-income-induced increase in housing demand, and that it is important to consider the interaction of rising mean income and its relative distribution when studying potential correlates of house prices. Moreover, our results confirm previous findings that the short-term real interest rate also is an important correlate of house prices.

Does inequality really matter in forecasting real housing returns of the United Kingdom?

In this paper, we analyze the potential role of growth in inequality for forecasting real housing returns of the United Kingdom. In our forecasting exercise, we use linear and nonlinear models, as well as measures of absolute and relative consumption and income inequalities at quarterly frequency over the period 1975–2016. Our results indicate that, while nonlinearity in the data generating process of real housing returns is important, growth in inequality does not necessarily carry important information in forecasting the future path of housing prices in the United Kingdom.

Socioeconomic Inequalities in Oral Health-Related Quality of Life among Brazilians: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Objective: Assess the magnitude of the socioeconomic inequalities related to the impact of oral health on quality of life among adults and elderly individuals. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study with data from the most recent oral health survey from the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The sample included data on 2288 individuals—1159 adults in the 35–44 age group and 1129 adults in the 65–74 age group. Socioeconomic inequalities in Oral Impacts on Daily Performance ratings were measured using two inequality measures: the slope index of inequality (SII) and the relative index of inequality (RII). Results: The prevalence of negative impact of oral health on quality of life was 42.2% for the total sample, 44.9% among adults and 37.5% among elderly individuals. Significant absolute and relative income inequalities were found for the total sample (SII −27.8; RII 0.52) and both age groups (adults: SII −32.4; RII 0.49; elderly: SII −18.3; RI 0.63), meaning that individuals in the lowest income level had the highest prevalence of negative impacts. Regarding schooling, no significant differences were observed among the elderly. Conclusion: There were significant socioeconomic inequalities related to the negative impact of oral health-related quality of life in Brazil among both age groups.

Maternal reproductive history: trends and inequalities in four population-based birth cohorts in Pelotas, Brazil, 1982-2015.

BackgroundBrazil experienced important progress in maternal and child health in recent decades. We aimed at describing secular trends as well as socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities in reproductive history indicators (birth spacing, previous adverse perinatal outcome, parity and multiple births) over a 33-year span.MethodsFour population-based birth cohort studies included all hospital births in 1982, 1993, 2004 and 2015 in Pelotas, Southern Brazil. Information on reproductive history was collected through interviews. Indicators were stratified by family income quintiles and skin colour. Absolute and relative measures of inequality were calculated.ResultsFrom 1982 to 2015, the proportion of primiparae increased from 39.2% to 49.6%, and median birth interval increased by 23.2 months. Poor women were more likely to report short intervals and higher parity, although reductions were observed in all income and ethnic groups. History of previous low birthweight was inversely related to income and increased by 7.7% points (pp) over time—more rapidly in the richest (12.1 pp) than in the poorest quintile (0.4 pp). Multiple births increased from 1.7% to 2.7%, with the highest increase observed among the richest quintile and for white women (220% and 70% increase, respectively). Absolute and relative income and ethnic-related inequalities for short birth intervals increased, whereas inequalities for previous low birthweight decreased over time.ConclusionsIn this 33-year period there were increases in birth intervals, multiple births and reports of previous low-birthweight infants. These trends may be explained by increased family planning coverage, assisted reproduction and a rise in preterm births, respectively. Our results show that socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities in health are dynamic and vary over time, within the same location.

Income Inequality and Outcomes in Heart Failure: A Global Between-Country Analysis

ObjectivesThis study examined the relationship between income inequality and heart failure outcomes. BackgroundThe income inequality hypothesis postulates that population health is influenced by income distribution within a society, with greater inequality associated with worse outcomes. MethodsThis study analyzed heart failure outcomes in 2 large trials conducted in 54 countries. Countries were divided by tertiles of Gini coefficients (where 0% represented absolute income equality and 100% represented absolute income inequality), and heart failure outcomes were adjusted for standard prognostic variables, country per capita income, education index, hospital bed density, and health worker density. ResultsOf the 15,126 patients studied, 5,320 patients lived in Gini coefficient tertile 1 countries (coefficient: <33%), 6,124 patients lived in tertile 2 countries (33% to 41%), and 3,772 patients lived in tertile 3 countries (>41%). Patients in tertile 3 were younger than tertile 1 patients, were more often women, and had less comorbidity and several indicators of less severe heart failure, yet the tertile 3-to-1 hazard ratios (HRs) for the primary composite outcome of cardiovascular death or heart failure hospitalization were 1.57 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.38 to 1.79) and 1.48 for all-cause death (95% CI: 1.29 to 1.71) after adjustment for recognized prognostic variables. After additional adjustments were made for per capita income, education index, hospital bed density, and health worker density, these HRs were 1.46 (95% CI: 1.25 to 1.70) and 1.30 (95% CI: 1.10 to 1.53), respectively. ConclusionsGreater income inequality was associated with worse heart failure outcomes, with an impact similar to those of major comorbidities. Better understanding of the societal and personal bases of these findings may suggest approaches to improve heart failure outcomes.