The Income Gradient in Children's Health: A Comment on Currie, Shields and Wheatley Price

Anne Case, Diana Lee and Christina Paxson

No 13495, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper reexamines differences found between income gradients in American and English children's health, in results originally published by Case, Lubotsky and Paxson (2002) for the US, and by Currie, Shields and Wheatley Price (2007) for England. We find that, when the English sample is expanded by adding three years of data, and is compared to American data from the same time period, the income gradient in children's health increases with age by the same amount in the two countries. In addition, we find that Currie, Shields and Wheatley Price's measures of chronic conditions from the Health Survey of England were incorrectly coded. Using correctly coded data, we find that the effects of chronic conditions on health status are larger in the English sample than in the American sample, and that income plays a larger role in buffering children's health from the effects of chronic conditions in England. We find no evidence that the British National Health Service, with its focus on free services and equal access, prevents the association between health and income from becoming more pronounced as children grow older.

JEL-codes: D1 I1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-ltv
Note: CH EH
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published as Case, Anne & Lee, Diana & Paxson, Christina, 2008. "The income gradient in children's health: A comment on Currie, Shields and Wheatley Price," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 801-807, May.

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Journal Article: The income gradient in children's health: A comment on Currie, Shields and Wheatley Price (2008)
Working Paper: The Income Gradient In Children's Health: A Comment On Currie, Shields And Wheatley Price (2007)
Working Paper: The Income Gradient In Children's Health: A Comment On Currie, Shields And Wheatley Price (2007)
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