Healthy minds in healthy bodies. An international comparison of education-related inequality in physical health among older adults

Inhalt Education is arguably the most important correlate of health We study education-related inequality in the physical of older adults across 11 European countries and the US. Combining data from HRS 2002, ELSA 2002 and SHARE 2004, our results suggest that education is strongly correlated with health both across and within countries. Education-related inequality in health is larger in Mediterranean and Anglo-Saxon countries than in western European countries. We find no evidence of a trade-off between health levels and equity in health. Education-related inequality in health hardly driven by income or wealth effects (except in the US), and differences in health behaviors (smoking) by education level contribute surprisingly little health differences across education groups.