Link and Phelan have proposed to explain the persistence of health inequalities from the fact that socioeconomic status is a “fundamental cause” which embodies an array of resources that can be used to avoid disease risks no matter what mechanisms are relevant at any given time. To test this...

Although higher education has been associated with lower mortality rates in many studies, the effect of potential improvements in educational distribution on future mortality levels is unknown. We therefore estimated the impact of projected increases in higher education on mortality in European...

Large differences in ever-smoking rates among women are found between countries and socio-economic groups. This study examined the socio-economic inequalities in female ever-smoking rates in 19 European countries, and explored the association between cross-national differences in these...

Comparisons among countries can help to identify opportunities for the reduction of inequalities in health. We compared the magnitude of inequalities in mortality and self-assessed health among 22 countries in all parts of Europe.

Over the past 40 years Estonia has experienced similar developments in mortality to other former Soviet countries. The stagnation in overall mortality has been caused mainly by increasing adult mortality. However, less is known about the social variation in health. This study examines...