We measure health inequality during middle and old age by race, ethnicity, and gender and evaluate the extent to which it can explain inequalities in other key economic outcomes using the Health and Retirement Study data set. Our main measure of health is frailty, which is the fraction of one's possible health deficits and is related to biological age. We find staggering health inequality: At age 55, Black men and women have the frailty, or biological age, of White men and women 13 and 20 years older, respectively, while Hispanic men and women exhibit frailty akin to White men and women 5 and 6 years older. The health deficits composing frailty reveal that most health deficits are more likely for Black and Hispanic people than for White people, with the notable exception of those requiring a diagnosis. Imputing medical diagnoses to Black and Hispanic people uncovers even larger health gaps, especially for Black men.

New CEPR Discussion Paper
DP19529 #Health Inequality and Economic Disparities by Race, #Ethnicity, and #Gender
Nicolo Russo, Rory McGee, Mariacristina De Nardi, Margherita Borella, Ross Abram
#CEPR_LE #CEPR_OE #Labour #Economics #Inequality
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