Health, Longevity, and Welfare Inequality of Older Americans

Ray Miller and Neha Bairoliya
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Ray Miller: Colorado State University
Neha Bairoliya: University of Southern California

The Review of Economics and Statistics, 2023, vol. 105, issue 5, 1145-1160

Abstract: We estimate the distribution of well-being among the older U.S. population using an expected utility framework that incorporates differences in consumption, leisure, health, and mortality. We find large disparities in welfare that have increased over time. Incorporating the cost of living with poor health into elderly welfare substantially increases the overall inequality. Disparity measures based on cross-sectional income or consumption underestimate the growth in aggregate welfare inequality. Moreover, health is a better indicator of an individual's relative welfare position than income or consumption.

Date: 2023
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