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Europe, Measured

ESS-21 / Health, climate & fairness

Health has a social staircase

How large is Europe's social health gradient, and did it widen between 2014 and 2023/24?

PlannedWave 1Research question, not a published result

The question

Compare health across education, work and financial strain using a common age standard.

What the analysis will test

Primary quantity
Age-standardized health differences across social groups and comparable rounds.
Evidence
ESS rounds 7, 11. Modules: health.
Primary comparison
Health gradient with uncertainty. The final form depends on validated data and uncertainty.
Publication threshold
Pinned source editions, reviewed questionnaire comparability, survey-design-aware intervals, disclosure checks and reproducible aggregate outputs.

What this evidence does not prove

Self-reported health and selective survival limit interpretation; age standardization alone does not identify social causation.

The ESS interviews different probability samples in each round. It measures structural differences and change, not today's mood or the same individuals over time.

Sources and next release

This page reserves the permanent address for ESS-21. Estimates and downloads will appear here after the data, statistical, editorial and reproducibility checks pass.

Series methodology and source register / ESS11 edition 4.2