Journal of epidemiology and community health
-
J Epidemiol Community Health · Feb 2005
Has the relation between income inequality and life expectancy disappeared? Evidence from Italy and top industrialised countries.
To investigate the relation between income inequality and life expectancy in Italy and across wealthy nations. ⋯ In Italy, a country where health care and education are universally available, and with a strong social safety net, income inequality had an independent and more powerful effect on life expectancy at birth than did per capita income and educational attainment. Italy had a moderately high degree of income inequality and an average life expectancy compared with other wealthy countries. The cross national analyses showed that the relation between income inequality and population health has not disappeared.