Child health and the income gradient: Further evidence from Australia
Title: Child health and the income gradient: Further evidence from Australia
Speaker: Matthew Oancea, Master student at the School of Economics (UQ)
Time and date: 11am-12pm, Monday 11 October 2021.
Location: Room 14-522 Sir Llew Executive Boardroom
About the seminar
It is widely acknowledged that the connections between socioeconomic status and health in adults have antecedents that begin in childhood. Incidences of a positive relationship between child health and household income have been documented in a number of Western nations. However, in countries with existing and well-established universal healthcare delivery and financing schemes, namely, Canada, England, and Australia, the gradient between child health and income is less pronounced. Instead, household income is thought to be primarily operating through alternative mechanisms to produce better or worse child health. Khanam et al. (2009) were the first to document such a gradient in Australia and provide evidence on these mechanisms.
By using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, particularly the waves released since the Khanam et al. (2009) study, we extend the previous measurements of the income-child health gradient in Australia and the mechanisms via which income is influencing health through to 2018 (previously 2006) and include children up to the age of 19 (previously 6). With a more robust dataset, we are able to map the direction of the child-health gradient in Australia up until adulthood and strengthen inferences made by Khanam et al. (2009) which posit the importance of parental health, particularly maternal physical health, child sleep quality, and child nutrition in the production of child health.
About the presenter
Matthew is a recent graduate of the Master of International Economics and Finance program at UQ. During his studies, he became interested in health economics and policy which motivated him to complete a research thesis in the area.