First Advisor

Matthew Carlson

Date of Publication

1-1-2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.) in Sociology

Department

Sociology

Language

English

Subjects

Inequality, Racial disparity, Mortality, Health and race -- United States -- Cross-cultural studies, Education -- Social aspects -- United States, Blacks -- Medical care -- United States, Racism -- Health aspects -- United States, Human Life cycle -- Social aspects

DOI

10.15760/etd.42

Physical Description

1 online resource (v, 62 p.) : ill.

Abstract

In the United States there exists a clear and disconcerting racial disparity in the distribution of good health, which can be seen in differential levels of morbidity and mortality affecting blacks and whites. Previous research has examined the role of SES in shaping racial health disparities and recent studies have looked specifically at the effect of education on health to explain the racial disparity in health. Higher levels of education are robustly associated with good overall health for both blacks and whites and this association has been examined over the life-course. This research explores racial differences in the effect of education on health in general as well as over the life-course. Specifically, this paper examines race differences in the effects of education on health over the life-course. Pooled data from the National Health Interview Survey were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression to estimate the effects of race, education and age on health. The results of these analyses indicate that blacks receive lower education returns on their health than whites. The effect of education on health was shown to grow in the beginning of the life-course and diminish at the end of the life course in accordance with the mortality-as-leveler hypothesis. The black white health disparity was shown to grow over the life-course among the highly educated, whereas the disparity was consistent over the life-course for the poorly educated.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Comments

Portland State University. Dept. of Sociology

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/7102

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