The socioeconomic gradient in health: The role of intra-household resource allocation

This paper aims to analyse the impact of different household financial regimes on the health status of males and females in a number of European countries. Using the EU-SILC 2010 on intra-household sharing of resources, we find that each member of the couple is worse off if his/her partner has most decision-making responsibilities. Additionally, the presence of children in the household plays a role in the effect that household financial regimens exert on individual self-assessed health, especially among females. We conclude that family arrangements regarding resource allocation and decision-making have important consequences and should be given some attention in the task of identifying individuals predisposed to health problems.

Universidad de Málaga Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. ECO2012-33993,and ECO2015-63734-P (MINECO/FEDER) and the Fundación Ramón Areces (Research Project: Determinants of social exclusion and recommendations for combating it)