A life-course perspective on the relationship between socio-economic status and health : SES, health, and the life-course

The dynamics of the relationship between SES and health over the life course of adult Canadians, however, remain largely unexplored. [...] While health status is related to SES, adults from all socio-economic levels generally encounter a decline in health with age as they begin to experience minor ailments in the earlier part of the later life course and more severe health problems in the later part. [...] However, this is not the explicit intent of this paper; rather, it is to examine the dynamics of the relationship between SES and health over the life course of adult Canadians (i.e., to examine if the SES-based gap in health diverges with age). [...] While it is more difficult in cross-sectional studies to isolate the effects of cohort and age as opposed to longitudinal studies, the SES standardization approach discussed below and employed here helps to reduce the influence of cohort effects. [...] Overall, self-rated health and the HUI are the most suitable indicators of health in the NPHS for this study.