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This study investigates the relationship between the recent economic crisis and the health of Italians, or more accurately describes the trends of some health indicators of the Italian population in association with socio-economic changes that have characterized Italy in recent years. In the first part of the article we examine the trends of some important indicators socio-economic aggregates and health (life expectancy and some mortality rates). In the second part we present some analysis on individual data (Istat – Survey on health status and use of health services). Our aim is to show the evolution of health conditions between 2005 and 2013 taking in account sociodemographic characteristics of different social categories. The results show that groups most affected by the crisis (with economic problems and unemployment) are substantially the same who show a worsening of the physical and psychological health. They are characterized by low level of schooling, they live in the southern and island Italian regions, and are more frequently male.

There is widespread concern that episodes of unemployment and unstable working conditions adversely affect health. We add to the debate by focusing on the relationship between work trajectory and the self-reported health of Italian men and women during the present economic downturn. Relying on Italian data in the EU-SILC project (from 2007 to 2010), our sample includes all individuals aged 30 to 60 in 2010, and uses multivariate binomial regression models for preliminary analyses and the Structural Equations modelling (SEM) to observe the cumulative effects of health status according to different job trajectories. Our main findings show similar pictures for men and women. Individuals who are unemployed, ejected or in precarious occupational positions have a higher risk of worsening their health status during these years.

ObjectiveLow individual socioeconomic status (SES) is known to be associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but the extent to which the local context in which people live may influence T2DM rates remains unclear. This study examines whether living in a low property value neighbourhood is associated with higher rates of T2DM independently of individual SES.Research design and methodsUsing cross-sectional data from the Maastricht Study (2010-2013) and geographical data from Statistics Netherlands, multilevel logistic regression was used to assess the association between neighbourhood property value and T2DM. Individual SES was based on education, occupation and income. Of the 2,056 participants (aged 40-75 years), 494 (24%) were diagnosed with T2DM.ResultsIndividual SES was strongly associated with T2DM, but a significant proportion of the variance in T2DM was found at the neighbourhood level (VPC = 9.2%; 95% CI = 5.0%-16%). Participants living in the poorest neighbourhoods had a 2.38 times higher odds ratio of T2DM compared to those living in the richest areas (95% CI = 1.58-3.58), independently of individual SES.ConclusionsNeighbourhood property value showed a significant association with T2DM, suggesting the usefulness of area-based programmes aimed at improving neighbourhood characteristics in order to tackle inequalities in T2DM.

Fil: Sarti, Simone. Universidad de Milán, Departamento de Ciencias Sociales y Políticas; Italia Fil: Rodríguez Espínola, Solange Sylvia. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina. Observatorio de la Deuda Social Argentina; Argentina Abstract: In the literature there is a lack of investigation on health inequalities in South America and their differences with respect to those in the developed countries. Since Italy has recorded similar economic trends in recent years and has some similarities with Argentina, we decided to use the Mediterranean country for comparative purposes. Our hypothesis was that, beyond structural differences, health inequalities present similar patterns in these two countries characterized by a capitalist economy. Social groups in advantaged educational and occupational positions exhibit better health than disadvantaged groups. We present some descriptive statistics on the overall situation in the two countries, and we then analyse data stemming from two surveys that collected individual information on social conditions and health statuses (OASD from 2010 to 2015, and “Multiscopo – Health condition and use of health services”, ISTAT 2013). The findings show that Argentina and Italy have different levels of wellbeing, mortality rates, and health services. But relative disparities in health seem very similar, confirming the hypothesis of Marmot (2017) about the general form of health inequalities. Manual and precarious workers (in particular unemployed persons) present systematically worse perceived health with respect to higher social classes.

In the last few years, much sociological debate has focused on individualisation theory, especially on Beck's risk society version. According to this theory, contemporary social change can be interpreted as the progressive weakening of the influence of social structures on individual behaviour. Individualisation theory has been adopted in many fields of study (voting behaviour, consumption behaviour, etc.). Although much of the debate has a theoretical character, there have been some attempts to empirically assess individualisation theory. As far as poverty is concerned, scholars supporting individualisation theory, as well as scholars opposing it, have adopted one of the following methodological strategies: highlighting the role played by individual variables (especially by life course variables) rather than structural variables; controlling for individual rather than structural variables. Both these approaches focus on short observation windows; however, it is necessary to consider long periods ...

The study of inequality in health concerns the relationship between socially structured characteristics and health outcomes. Howewer, health disparities are also linked to purely individual characteristics and contextual ones. In particular, the contextual effect at a national level may reflect differences in the functioning and performing of national health institutions, that may be conceived as further determinants of health inequalities. In this work we aim at estimating the effect of education on self-assessed health across European countries, taking into account potential confounders like age, gender and family social background. Using a multilevel model with individuals nested in countries, we can achieve two aims. First, we can see whether countries differ in their average self-assessed health score. Second, we can test our hypothesis about the existence of a European social gradient, that is that education exerts a relatively constant effect on self-assessed health. We develop our models using data from European Social Surveys (88,842 interviews).

This chapter applies the multilevel regression technique in order to validate the ranking of occupational categories in a reputational scale of social desirability. Such attention to the differences inherent in work roles resumes the topic of the unequal distribution of material and symbolic rewards within societies. A tool widely used by sociologists to grasp the distributive inequalities associated with jobs is the occupational stratification scale or the hierarchical ordering of occupations. The aim of the model presented in this chapter is to validate an occupational stratification scale constructed in 2007 on the basis of the scale developed by de Lillo-Schizzerotto in 1985. The scale consists of 110 occupational categories constructed as the aggregate of 676 occupations (described in detail) which 2000 interviewees were asked to evaluate in terms of their social desirability. The ordering of the scale is validated through decomposition of the heterogeneity of the evaluations. The multilevel model shows that the 110 categories explain large part of this heterogeneity, also with the socio-demographic characteristics of the interviewees remaining equal

This article analyzes trends over time in the relationship between social class and political preferences in EU countries. Multilevel models and logistic regression techniques are employed to examine Eurobarometer data for thirteen nations between 1976 and 2003. In the comparative research addressing the issue of long-term changes in class politics, class voting is the most common indicator. Instead of focussing on electoral behaviour, we analyze data on respondent's self-placement on a left-right scale. We argue that this indicator presents some relevant advantages when large-scale comparisons across time and space are involved. Our results point to a prevailing stability over time of the association between class position and political preferences.