 Poverty and self‐rated health in later life: The mediating role of material hardshipYang Li and Jan E. Mutchler Social Science Quarterly, 2022, vol. 103, issue 3, 521-533 Abstract: Objective Poverty and material hardship have both been linked to negative health outcomes in later life. Yet, limited research investigates their combined associations with health. We examined the mediating role of material hardship in the association between poverty and self‐rated health. Methods Using data from the Understanding America Study, we estimated binary and ordered logistic regression models of self‐rated health, including indicators of hardship and income‐to‐poverty ratios for adults aged 50 years or older (N = 2862). Results We found that the association between income poverty and self‐rated health was mediated by indicators of material hardship among those with incomes between two and four times the official poverty threshold. Conclusion Interventions to improve health in later life would benefit from efforts to assess and alleviate hardship, with attention to those in the middle range of the income distribution who have income too high to qualify for needs‐based supports while still being at risk of experiencing hardship. Date: 2022 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:socsci:v:103:y:2022:i:3:p:521-533 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Social Science Quarterly is currently edited by Robert L. Lineberry More articles in Social Science Quarterly from Southwestern Social Science Association |
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