Are racial disparities in health conditional on socioeconomic status?
Abstract
Racial health inequality is related to socioeconomic status (SES), but debate ensues on the nature of the relationship. Using the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I and the subsequent follow-up interviews, this research examines health disparities between white and black adults and whether the SES/health gradient differs across the two groups in the USA. Two competing mechanisms for the conditional or interactive relationship between race and SES on health are examined during a 20-year period for black and white Americans. Results show that black adults began the study with more serious illnesses and poorer self-rated health than white adults and that the disparity continued over the 20 years. Significant interactions were found between race and education as well as race and employment status on health outcomes. The interaction effect of race and education showed that the racial disparity in self-rated health was largest at the higher levels of SES, providing some evidence for the "diminishing returns" hypothesis; as education levels increased, black adults did not have the same improvement in self-rated health as white adults. Overall, the findings provide evidence for the continuing significance of both race and SES in determining health status over time.
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Black Americans with high socioeconomic status report worse physical health status compared to white Americans with similar resources.
“Prior studies have demonstrated that Black Americans with high SES report worse physical health status, measured by various indicators (i.e., diabetes, hypertension, self-rated health), compared to white Americans with similar resources (Farmer and Ferraro 2005; Wilson, Thorpe, and LaVeist 2017).”
From Is John Henryism a Health Risk or Resource?: Exploring the Role of Culturally Relevant Coping for Physical and Mental Health among Black Americans. (2021) · cites this paper as Farmer and Ferraro 2005
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- Authors
- Farmer, M. M., & Ferraro, K. F.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- Corresponding author
- Farmer, Melissa M.
- Venue
- Social Science & Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2005-01
- Volume
- 60
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 191-204
- ISSN
- 0277-9536 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2049813862
- Cited by
- 681
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 43 · 2022: 77 · 2021: 55 · 2020: 49 · 2019: 41 · 2018: 39 · 2017: 36 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 31 · 2012: 15
- FWCI
- 11.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Social Science & Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Purdue Research Foundation
- National Institute on Aging (AG-11705, R01AG011705)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
- Social Sciences › Health › Public Health and Social Inequalities
- Keywords
- racial disparities in health, socioeconomic status, self-rated health, educational attainment, employment status, chronic disease
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Black or African American, Chronic Disease, Cross-Sectional Studies, Educational Status, Female, Disabled Persons, Persons with Disabilities, Health Services Accessibility, Health Status Indicators, Humans, Life Style, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Poverty, Sick Role, Socioeconomic Factors, United States, Black People, White People
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