Income Growth And Widening Income Gap On Health Inequalities

Health is the basis for human survival and development. Equity and justice are the most important goals in health field. However, health inequalities exist both between and within countries globally, regardless of their current level of health.This phenomenon has caused extensive attention from governments and researchers all over the world. Income-related inequalities in health, or the variation in health which is systematically related to income, is the focus of health inequalities studies and also the concern of this paper.After thirty years of reform and opening up, China has undergone profound changes in economy and society. With the rapid economic growth, people's living standards improved greatly, while income disparities and health inequalities emerged. So, the problems are, to what extent income-related health inequalities exist in China, and how income growth and income inequality affect health inequality? Study on this topic, which can help us know about the current health inequality in China and give suggestions on policies reducing health inequalities, has important theoretical and practical significance.In this paper, we used the Chinese Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) 2000, 2004,2006 panel data to study the problems mentioned above. First, a literature review was given on health inequality and the relationship between income and health inequality. Then, we applied the decomposition method of Wagstaff (2003) to study income-related health inequality in China. In view of the dual structure in China, our study was conducted in urban and rural areas respectively. We found that, compared to other determinants of health, income contributes most to health inequalities. Income growth and income inequalities both caused the expansion of health inequalities.For rural areas, expansion in health inequalities was mainly due to the widening income gap, while for the city, it was caused by income growth. The goal of reducing health inequalities in China can be achieved through a series of measures, including narrowing income disparities, reducing gender discrimination in the labor market, increasing pension insurance coverage and promoting education equity.