THE SOCIAL-STRATIFICATION OF AGING AND HEALTH

The way health varies with age is importantly stratified by socioecono mic status (SES)-specifically, education and income. Prior theory and cross-sectional data suggest that among higher SES persons the onset o f health problems is usually postponed until rather late in life, whil e health declines are prevalent in lower SES groups by middle age. Thu s, SES differences in health are small in early adulthood, but increas e with age until relatively late in life, when they diminish due to se lection or greater equalization of health risks and protections. The p resent paper strengthens our causal and interpretive understanding of these phenomena by showing: (1) that results previously reported for i ndices of SES hold separately for education and income; (2) that the i nteraction between age and SES (i.e., education or income) in predicti ng health can be substantially explained by the greater exposure of lo wer SES persons to a wide range of psychosocial risk factors to health , especially in middle and early old age, and, to a lesser degree, the greater impact of these risk factors on health with age; and (3) that results (1) and (2) generally hold in short-term longitudinal as well as in cross-sectional data. Implications for science and policy in th e areas of aging, health, and social stratification are discussed.