Social science & medicine
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Social science & medicine · Nov 2009
Inequality in individual mortality and economic conditions earlier in life.
We analyze the effect of being born in a recession on the mortality rate later in life in conjunction with social class. We use individual data records from Dutch registers of birth, marriage, and death certificates, covering the period 1815-2000, and we merge these with historical data on macro-economic outcomes and health indicators. We estimate duration models and inequality measures. ⋯ Lower social classes suffer disproportionally from being born in recessions. This exacerbates mortality inequality. Upward mobility does not vary much with the business cycle at birth.
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Social science & medicine · Nov 2009
Parental education and children's online health information seeking: beyond the digital divide debate.
Research has shown that increasing numbers of teenagers are going online to find health information, but it is unclear whether there are disparities in the prevalence of online health seeking among young Internet users associated with social and economic conditions. Existing literature on Internet uses by adults indicates that low income, less educated, and minority individuals are less likely to be online health seekers. ⋯ Multiple regression analysis shows that the higher engagement in health seeking by teens of low education parents is related to a lower prevalence of parental Internet use, suggesting that some of these teens may be seeking online health information on behalf of their low education parents. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the issues of the digital divide and digital empowerment.