ArticleInternational journal of social determinants of health and health services2024
The U-Shaped Curve of Health Inequalities Over the 20th and 21st Centuries.
Article in International journal of social determinants of health and health services, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Excluded by design: a qualitative study of inequalities in health and social care innovation.International journal for equity in health · 2026Article
- The Political Economy of Health Inequality.International journal of social determinants of health and health services · 2026Article
- The cardiometabolic "bottleneck" on cognitive function in aging.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Article
- The life expectancy gap: Socioeconomic differences in life expectancy between areas in Germany.Journal of health monitoring · 2025Article
- Guaranteeing girls' right to education: an imperative for global brain health.Dementia & neuropsychologia · 2025Article
- Health inequalities and health-related economic inactivity: WhyPublic health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
Abstract
This article examines historical trends in health inequalities over the 20th and 21st centuries. Drawing on studies from the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, and Western Europe, it concludes that there is evidence of a u-shaped curve in (relative) health inequalities. These trends in health inequalities broadly parallel those identified by economists with regards to the u-shaped curve of income and wealth inequalities across the 20th and 21st centuries. The article argues that-as with income inequalities-health inequalities generally decreased across the twentieth century through to the early 1980s. They then started to increase and accelerated further from 2010, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. The article sets out four distinct policy periods that shaped the evolution of trends in health inequalities: the Interbellum Era, 1920-1950; the Trente Glorieuse, 1950-1980; Neoliberalism, 1980-2010; and the Crisis Age, 2010-present. The u-shaped curve of health inequalities over this period suggests that social policies, health care access, and political incorporation have driven changes over time. Taking this long view of changes in health inequalities emphasizes the importance of politics and policy for future health improvement.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.