AGE, SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND HEALTH IN BRAZIL

The article investigates the social stratification of the conditions of health in Brazil. From testing the hypotheses of convergence or divergence of the socioeconomic gradient on health along the life cycle of the age groups, the article discusses whether the social disparities in health stem from leveling or disadvantages accumulation processes. The outcomes of the study do not support the hypothesis of convergence of the effects of the socioeconomic position in the condition of health of the oldest age groups of the population. They rather indicate the enlargement of the social disparities in those groups. The paper discusses those outcomes in the light of the interdisciplinary studies that approach the processes of accumulation of socioeconomic disadvantages along the life cycle of the individuals.

Inequality; Social Stratification; Health Disparities; Social Stratification of Health; Cumulative Disadvantage; Life Course