Trends in Health Inequalities Among Belgian Retirees

This paper investigates the trend in health inequalities among Belgian retirees between 2005 and 2022. The study is motivated by the need to examine whether pension reforms during this period, which primarily involved raising the statutory eligibility age and reducing system generosity, disproportionately affected poorer individuals compared to richer ones and thereby contributed to widening health inequalities. Using data from SHARE, we assess health disparities across five distinct health measures and apply three complementary approaches to quantify socio-economic health differences. Our results provide no evidence of a significant increase in health inequalities over this period.