According to a , the link between socioeconomic position and health broadly differs across race in young adulthood, and it may be more complicated than originally thought.
The study asked 9,000 young people to rate their own health. Findings showed that white and Hispanic individuals experienced better health if they self-reported higher wealth, but Black respondents' outcomes were more nuanced: wealth was 鈥渙nly significantly associated with health鈥� among the most wealthy respondents.
The study was published on April 4 by the , and led by Sicong 鈥淪ummer鈥� Sun, the assistant professor of social welfare at the University of Kansas. The authors analyzed data from the U.S. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, where youths were asked questions about their self-reported net worth, parental worth and their health when they were 20, 25 and 30 years old.
The report found that white individuals had 5.8 times more parental wealth than Black respondents and 4.9 times more than Hispanic respondents. Hispanic respondents reported that individual wealth influenced their health, not parental wealth, whereas Black respondents reported that their health was better only in the highest wealth indicator.
Sun discussed the importance of studying young adults as they enter into pivotal life situations that may heavily affect an individual's socio-economic outcome later in life, like going to college, getting a job, buying homes and getting married. This research, Sun hopes, will inform 鈥渢imely program policy and interventions to narrow inequitable outcomes in middle age and later in life.鈥�
A key finding from the study shows that wealth-building and societal policies benefitted white populations more than other races for decades. Sun and co-authors say that policy changes will help address wealth gaps for people of colour, who experience poorer health because of income inequality. An individual's wealth was calculated as total assets minus debt, and that same calculation was applied to their parental debt.
鈥淵ou can see the wealth inequality beginning right from the start, and it鈥檚 largely due to parental wealth differences and cumulative disadvantage across generations,鈥� Sun said in the media release. 鈥淪uch disadvantage is not because of individual behaviours or traits. You can鈥檛 just tell people to 鈥榩ull yourself up by your bootstraps.鈥� Many are starting out life with disadvantages to their socioeconomic conditions, which fundamentally shape their health and well-being through the life course.鈥�
Sun points to tax deferrals for retirement savings and home ownership as wealth-building policies that only benefit the top 20 per cent of income earners. 鈥淲e need more inclusive and progressive policies,鈥� Sun said. 鈥淪tructural problems require structural solutions.鈥�
