TY - JOUR
T1 - Explaining Socioeconomic Inequality in Psychological Well-being among Older People
T2 - A Comparison between Vietnam and Myanmar
AU - Dang, Truc Ngoc Hoang
AU - Le, Duc Dung
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2024.
PY - 2024/12
Y1 - 2024/12
N2 - Limited understanding exists regarding the social determinants of psychological well-being inequalities, particularly in developing countries with less developed healthcare and public policy systems for older individuals. This study employed two common decomposition analyses in health inequality research to explore factors influencing socioeconomic-related disparities in psychological well-being within and between Vietnam and Myanmar. Utilizing surveys from the 2012 Myanmar Aging Survey (N = 4,056) and the 2011 Vietnam Aging Survey (N = 2,688), we observed that inequality disproportionately affected the worse-off in both countries, with Vietnam experiencing a greater degree of inequality than Myanmar. The concentration index decomposition highlighted subjective income and offspring’s financial assistance as significant contributors to the observed inequality across both countries. The Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition showed that the disparity between Vietnam and Myanmar in inequality primarily stemmed from uneven wealth distribution across factors. This implies that wealth redistribution policies could mitigate disparities within and between the two countries.
AB - Limited understanding exists regarding the social determinants of psychological well-being inequalities, particularly in developing countries with less developed healthcare and public policy systems for older individuals. This study employed two common decomposition analyses in health inequality research to explore factors influencing socioeconomic-related disparities in psychological well-being within and between Vietnam and Myanmar. Utilizing surveys from the 2012 Myanmar Aging Survey (N = 4,056) and the 2011 Vietnam Aging Survey (N = 2,688), we observed that inequality disproportionately affected the worse-off in both countries, with Vietnam experiencing a greater degree of inequality than Myanmar. The concentration index decomposition highlighted subjective income and offspring’s financial assistance as significant contributors to the observed inequality across both countries. The Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition showed that the disparity between Vietnam and Myanmar in inequality primarily stemmed from uneven wealth distribution across factors. This implies that wealth redistribution policies could mitigate disparities within and between the two countries.
KW - Concentration index
KW - Decomposition analysis
KW - Oaxaca–blinder decomposition
KW - Older persons
KW - Psychological well–being
KW - Socioeconomic inequality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85198341281&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s12062-024-09459-4
DO - 10.1007/s12062-024-09459-4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85198341281
SN - 1874-7884
VL - 17
SP - 751
EP - 775
JO - Journal of Population Ageing
JF - Journal of Population Ageing
IS - 4
ER -