Abstract
We study chronic illness to analyze the evolution of health inequalities over the life-cycle. Using rich administrative data in the Netherlands, we find that measurable chronic conditions explain about 30-40% of the mortality gap between income groups at old age, but the gap in chronic illness already opens up in early adulthood. By age 35, the bottom 50% have exceeded the chronic illness burden of 50-year olds in the top 50%. Leveraging our panel data, we show that low-income individuals develop chronic illness at a faster rate and that chronically-ill individuals sort into lower income groups. Aggregated over the life-cycle, the ageing channel is about 50% more important than the sorting channel. Our analysis demonstrates the value of health interventions that target the incidence of chronic conditions for low-income groups already earlier in life, before affecting mortality later in life. Our analysis of mediating factors indicates the importance of location relative to health behaviors, especially at younger ages.
Local Organizer: Niko Jaakkola