Premium
Wealth, Race, and Mortality *
Author(s) -
Bond Huie Stephanie A.,
Krueger Patrick M.,
Rogers Richard G.,
Hummer Robert A.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
social science quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.482
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1540-6237
pISSN - 0038-4941
DOI - 10.1111/1540-6237.8403011
Subject(s) - socioeconomic status , health and retirement study , race (biology) , asset (computer security) , demographic economics , demography , gerontology , mortality rate , proportional hazards model , economics , population , medicine , sociology , gender studies , computer security , computer science , surgery
Objective. We explore, first, whether wealth relates to mortality risk independent of income and education, and second, whether wealth closes the black‐white gap in U.S. adult mortality while controlling for other socioeconomic and sociodemographic factors. Methods. We employ the Cox proportional hazards models on data from the 1992 wave of the Health and Retirement Study linked to deaths through 1998, to analyze pre‐retirement adult mortality in the United States. Results. The findings suggest that broader measures of SES, including wealth, are significant for understanding adult mortality. Further, vastly lower asset holdings among blacks, compared to whites, not only affects their financial well‐being but also their survival prospects. Conclusions. Research and social policies that aim to understand and close health disparities in the United States may be poorly conceived if they ignore the impact of wealth on premature adult mortality.