CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 450Health disparities and outcomesPublic Health and Social InequalitiesIncome, Poverty, and Inequality

Income inequality, the psychosocial environment, and health: comparisons of wealthy nations

Lynch, John, Smith, George Davey, Hillemeier, Marianne, Shaw, Mary, Raghunathan, Trivellore, Kaplan, George·2001·The Lancet
DOI 10.1016/s0140-6736(01)05407-1
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Background The theory that income inequality and characteristics of the psychosocial environment (indexed by such things as social capital and sense of control over life's circumstances) are key determinants of health and could account for health differences between countries has become influential in health inequalities research and for population health policy.Methods We examined cross-sectional associations between income inequality and low birthweight, life expectancy, self-rated health, and age-specific and cause-specific mortality among countries providing data in wave III (around 1989-92) of the Luxembourg Income Study. We also used data from the 1990-91 wave of the World Values Survey (WVS). We obtained life expectancy, mortality, and low birthweight data from the WHO Statistical Information System.Findings Among the countries studied, higher income inequality was strongly associated with greater infant mortality (r=0.69, p=0.004 for women; r=0.74, p=0.002 for men). Associations between income inequality and mortality declined with age at death, and then reversed among those aged 65 years and older. Income inequality was inconsistently associated with specific causes of death and was not associated with coronary heart disease (CHD), breast or prostate cancer, cirrhosis, or diabetes mortality. Countries that had greater trade union membership and political representation by women had better child mortality profiles. Differences between countries in levels of social capital showed generally weak and somewhat inconsistent associations with cause-specific and age-specific mortality.Interpretation Income inequality and characteristics of the psychosocial environment like trust, control, and organisational membership do not seem to be key factors in understanding health differences between these wealthy countries. The associations that do exist are largely limited to child health outcomes and cirrhosis. Explanations for between-country differences in health will require an appreciation of the complex interactions of history, culture, politics, economics, and the status of women and ethnic minorities.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/s0140-6736(01)05407-1

Cites

50 of 50 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Higher morbidity and mortality rates for the socioeconomically disadvantaged are still found.

    “In spite of marked health improvements of the overall population and efforts to overcome health inequalities, higher morbidity and mortality rates for the socioeconomically disadvantaged are still found.(1, 2, 3, 4)”

    From Socio-economic status of the patient and doctor–patient communication: does it make a difference? (2005) · cites this paper as [2]

    The Conclusions (page unavailable) state that within countries, lower income is a powerful determinant of poorer health, supporting the claim’s general socioeconomic gradient. Our copy does not specifically establish that disadvantaged people have higher rates of both morbidity and mortality, so it does not support that full formulation. (LLM, conf=0.78)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Evidence regarding the association between income inequality and suicide rates is mixed, with multi-country analyses revealing a possible association between lower levels of income inequality and increased suicide rates.

    “However, evidence regarding the association between income inequality and suicide rates is mixed, with multi-country analyses revealing a possible association between lower levels of income inequality and increased suicide rates (Lynch et al., 2001).”

    From Social media use, economic recession and income inequality in relation to trends in youth suicide in high-income countries: a time trends analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Lynch et al., 2001

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Part of this paper’s reference list could not be split into single entries.

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. [17]17. Wolfson M, Kaplan GA, Lynch JW, Ross N, Backlund E. The relationship between income inequality and mortality is not a statistical artefact. BMJ 1999; 319:953-957.
  2. [32]32. Kunst AE, Groenhof F, Mackenbach JP, et al. Occupational class and cause specific mortality in middle aged men in 11 European countries: comparison of population based studies. BMJ 1998;316, 1636-42.
  3. [33]33. Leon D. Commentary: Unequal inequalities across Europe. BMJ 1998;316:1642.
  4. [37]37. Inglehart R. Modernization and Postmodernization . New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1997.
  5. [42]42. Wilkinson RG. Health inequalities: relative or absolute material standards. BMJ 1997;314:591-5.
  6. [43]43. Williams RB, Feaganes J, Barefoot JC. Hostility and death rates in ten US cities. Psychom Med 1995;57:96. (abstract) Draft Version - Do not cite or quote - To be published in Lancet (2001)
  7. [49]49. Kunitz S. Disease and Social Diversity . New York: Oxford University Press, 1994..

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Lynch, J., Smith, G. D., Hillemeier, M., Shaw, M., Raghunathan, T., & Kaplan, G.
Affiliations
  • University of Michigan (US)
  • University of Bristol (GB)
Corresponding author
Lynch, John
ORCID
Venue
The Lancet
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2001-07
Volume
358
Issue
9277
Pages
194-200
ISSN
  • 0099-5355 (ISSN-L)
  • 0140-6736
DOI
10.1016/s0140-6736(01)05407-1
OpenAlex
W2162223149
Cited by
450
References
50
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 18
FWCI
39.11
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • The Lancet (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • Deep Blue (University of Michigan) (submittedVersion)
  • Econstor (Econstor) (submittedVersion)
  • DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library) (submittedVersion)
  • Explore Bristol Research (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • University of Michigan
  • Economic and Social Research Council
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
  • Social Sciences › Health › Public Health and Social Inequalities
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Income, Poverty, and Inequality
Keywords
income inequality, psychosocial environment, social capital, perceived control, low birth weight, infant mortality, child mortality, life expectancy, union membership, women's political representation, trust, cross-national comparison, Luxembourg Income Study, World Values Survey
MeSH terms
Birth Weight, Cause of Death, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Health Status, Health Surveys, Humans, Income, Infant, Newborn, Life Expectancy, Male, Mortality, Social Class, Social Environment, Women's Health

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review