Chipping away at health: more on the relationship between income and child health.
Low-income children are in worse health than other children are. This paper explores the extent to which insults to health and activity limitations are responsible. In the most recent National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data, low-income children are more likely than other children to have virtually every measured chronic or acute condition and are more likely to be limited by these conditions. Mental health conditions are particularly common and limiting. But the higher incidence of measured conditions and limits does not explain all of the relationships between income and overall health status, which suggests that unmeasured illnesses and injuries are also involved.
Currie
Janet
J
Department of Economics, Columbia University, New York City, NY, USA. jc2663@columbia.edu
Lin
Wanchuan
W
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000191:economics* / Q000639:trends; D046688:Child Mortality; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000639:trends*; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology