Perspectives Demogràfics
by Jeroen Spijker, Centre d’Estudis Demogràfics
Studies on health and health behaviour trends generally compare age-adjusted or age-specific rates. Conversely, a cohort perspective is rarely used, which impedes the possibility to observe, for a particular age, improvements or worsening in
health conditions between cohorts. To cover this gap, in this issue of Perspectives Demogràfiques, health trends research is extended by analysing Spanish cohorts born between 1945 and 1969. The results show that despite the cohorts experiencing an economic crisis and becoming 10 years older, self-perceived health remained relatively similar with a tendency to improve between the years 2006-07 and 2014-17. Nevertheless, important differences according to educational level, employment status and sex persist. Health of higher educated employed men ―and likewise women born in the 1960s― was unaffected by economic changes. On the other hand, the most disadvantaged are lower-educated men born between 1945 and 1959 as they reach retirement age, and lower-educated employed women, likely due to their double burden. Finally, employed women generally are in worse health than employed men, irrespective of educational level.