From a conservative to a liberal welfare state: Decomposing changes in income-related health inequalities in Germany, 1994–2011

Widening inequalities in self-rated health by material deprivation? A trend analysis between 2001 and 2011 in Germany

“…Similar trends were found in relative and absolute inequalities in SRH by material deprivation, which increased from 2001 to 2005 and then declined. The increase in inequalities in SRH by material deprivation was not significant, but corresponds to the introduction of the strongest labour market reforms in Germany in early 2005 25. Improvements in health during the first half of the decade disproportionately favoured the least deprived groups.…”

Longitudinal analysis of income-related health inequalities: methods, challenges and applications

“…The contributions indicate how the concentration index would differ if the respective explanatory variable was not associated with health or was equally distributed across income groups [17].…”

“…Indeed, even if longitudinal or panel data is available then the static approach may be sufficient to monitor changes in health inequalities over time if one is only interested in the development of groups rather than individuals and the specific composition of those groups does not matter [17]. Nevertheless one should keep in mind that it may involve some shortcomings as the use of cross-sectional data does not allow one to track 7 individual experiences over time.…”

“…Using data for the years 1992 and 1997, they choose a cross-sectional approach and compare differences in the associations between income and health for both parts of Germany for the two years. Siegel et al [17] apply the regression-based decomposition approach to repeated cross-sectional data separately for each year between 1994 and 2011 to investigate changes in income-related health inequalities in Germany over time. They argue that the repeated cross-sectional approach assures a representative sample of the working population throughout the study period as it avoids potential problems with aging.…”

“…Although Siegel et al [17] include its beginning in their study period, potential consequences of the crisis have not been in their research focus.…”