Health Inequality in the US

The United States has undergone a series of pension reforms since the 1980s that have effectively reduced benefit generosity and increased the retirement age. At the same time, life expectancy gains in the US have been distributed very unequally. These developments raise concerns that recent US pension reforms may have exacerbated health disparities among older adults. The main question addressed by this paper is therefore whether the reforms to the US Social Security system—through increased retirement ages and reduced benefit generosity—have contributed to rising health inequality among retirees.
This study draws on the RAND longitudinal file of the Health and Retirement Study. We conceptualize “health inequality” as the relationship between five different health indicators and retirement income, and trace how this relationship has developed across cohorts and over time. We find some evidence for increasing health inequality for women, none for men. We also find that both functional and comprehensive health display a steady rise in inequality over time, while the inequality in diagnosed conditions, mental and cognitive health remained stable.