Volume 42 - Article 12 | Pages 383–398
The role of education in explaining trends in self-rated health in the United States, 1972–2018
| Date received: | 22 Sep 2019 |
| Date published: | 26 Feb 2020 |
| Word count: | 2326 |
| Keywords: | education, self-rated health |
| DOI: | 10.4054/DemRes.2020.42.12 |
Abstract
Background: The percentage of older adults in the United States reporting being in good health has increased since the 1980s.
Objective: This study tries to explain long-term trends in self-rated health in the United States.
Methods: We used 47 years of repeated cross-sectional data from the National Health Interview Survey to estimate regression models that predict trends in self-rated health.
Results: Our results show that the improvement in self-rated health of men as well as women aged 50–84 is largely explained by gains in educational attainment. Self-rated health has slightly improved among those with post-secondary education, while it did not improve among those without post-secondary education.
Contribution: This study is one of the few to try to explain long-term trends in self-rated health. It does so for a much longer period of time than any previous study.
Author's Affiliation
Jona Schellekens - Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Anat Ziv - University of New Brunswick, Canada
Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research
»
Maternal education and infant mortality decline: The evidence from Indonesia, 1980–2015
Volume 45 - Article 24
»
Does the association between children and happiness vary by level of religiosity? The evidence from Israel
Volume 41 - Article 5
»
Religiosity and marital fertility among Muslims in Israel
Volume 39 - Article 34
»
The decline in consanguineous marriage among Muslims in Israel: The role of education
Volume 37 - Article 61
Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research
»
Socioeconomic differentials in fertility in South Korea
Volume 44 - Article 39 | Keywords: education
»
Educational gradients in nonstandard work schedules among mothers and fathers in the United Kingdom
Volume 44 - Article 26 | Keywords: education
»
Educational assortative mating and the decline of hypergamy in 27 European countries: An examination of trends through cohorts
Volume 44 - Article 7 | Keywords: education
»
Estimating rural–urban disparities in self-rated health in China: Impact of choice of urban definition
Volume 43 - Article 49 | Keywords: self-rated health
»
Educational heterogamy during the early phase of the educational expansion: Results from the university town of Tartu, Estonia in the late 19th century
Volume 43 - Article 13 | Keywords: education
Articles
Citations
Cited References: 44
»View the references of this article
Download to Citation Manager
Similar Articles
PubMed
Google Scholar