The role of the accumulation of poverty and unemployment for health disadvantages

Health inequality is an important aspect of how advantages and disadvantages are distributed within societies. We extend previous research by considering how trajectories of poverty and employment affect self-reported health among young adults. We use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, restricting the analytical sample to those who were 25 to 45 year-old in 2005. We calculated the indexes that account for persistence and intensity of poverty and employment on 10-year-long individual-level employment and household-level poverty trajectories. Ordinal logit regression models show that both long-lasting poverty and short periods out of employment are detrimental for men’s health. In contrast, only more recent episodes in poverty have a negative effect on women’s health.