title: The health of European populations: introduction to the special supplement on the 2014 European Social Survey (ESS) rotating module on the social determinants of health.
abstract: This introduction summarizes the main findings of the Supplement 'Social inequalities in health and their determinants' to the European Journal of Public Health. The 16 articles that constitute this supplement use the new ESS (2014) health module data to analyze the distribution of health across European populations. Three main themes run across these articles: documentation of cross-national variation in the magnitude and patterning of health inequalities; assessment of health determinants variation across populations and in their contribution to health inequalities; and the examination of the effects of health outcomes across social groups. Social inequalities in health are investigated from an intersectional stance providing ample evidence of inequalities based on socioeconomic status (occupation, education, income), gender, age, geographical location, migrant status and their interactions. Comparison of results across these articles, which employ a wide range of health outcomes, social determinants and social stratification measures, is facilitated by a shared theoretical and analytical approach developed by the authors in this supplement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Beckfield
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Mirza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Balaj
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Courtney L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: McNamara
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Wentworth College, University of York, York, UK.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Huijts
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Society, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK.
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bambra
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Terje A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Eikemo
mesh_terms: D005060:Europe; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D064890:Social Determinants of Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires