Wealth, Race, and Mortality

In: Social science quarterly, Band 84, Heft 3, S. 667-684

Abstract

We explore (1) whether wealth relates to mortality risk independent of income & education & (2) whether wealth closes the black-white gap in US adult mortality while controlling for other socioeconomic & sociodemographic factors. We employ the Cox proportional hazards models on data from the 1992 wave of the Health & Retirement Study linked to deaths through 1998, to analyze pre-retirement adult mortality in the US. The findings suggest that broader measures of SES, including wealth, are significant for understanding adult mortality. Further, vastly lower asset holdings among blacks, compared to whites, not only affect their financial well-being but also their survival prospects. Research & social policies that aim to understand & close health disparities in the US may be poorly conceived if they ignore the impact of wealth on premature adult mortality. 2 Tables, 1 Figure, 52 References. Adapted from the source document.