Gender Inequalities in Health and Socioeconomic Status: Analysis through Healthy Expectancies in the Basque Country (Spain)

In the Basque Country, like in most societies, women survive longer than men but are less healthy. However, several authors have criticized this fact as being too simplistic and not taking into account that men and women are heterogeneous groups. It is necessary that the study of gender inequalities in health consider other variables such as educational level, social class or age that can explain this gender gap.

The aim of the present paper is to examine gender inequalities in health and their change in the Basque Country considering two variables of socioeconomic status, and healthy expectancy as the main result variable, which integrates health and mortality. This measure also allows separating life expectancy into years of life in good and poor health. Educational level and a deprivation index of the residence area were used as socioeconomic status variables. The last one summarizes four characteristics of census tracks (unemployment, manual and eventual workers, insufficient education overall and in young people). Health expectancy by sex and each of the socioeconomic status for different ages was calculated in two periods (1996-2001 and 2001-2006).

Women lived more years than men at all ages, periods and social groups, but the gender gap varied by age and social position. Thus, differences between men and women in life expectancy were greater as the level of education decreased or increased the deprivation index. The difference in the number of years between men and women was lower when considering only the years in good health, so that women lived more years in poor health. The gap between men and women decreased in the second period comparing to the first.

A comprehensive vision which integrates gender and socioeconomic inequalities is necessary to adequately understand the health differences between men and women.