Socioeconomic inequalities across life and premature mortality from 1971 to 2016: findings from three British birth cohorts born in 1946, 1958 and 1970

Housing tenure and disability in the UK: trends and projections 2004-2030

Introduction

Housing is a major influence on health. Housing tenure is associated with housing conditions, affordability, and security and is an important dimension of housing. In the UK there have been profound changes in both housing conditions and the distribution of households by tenure over the past century, that is during the lifetimes of the current population.

Methods

We firstly reviewed and summarise changes in housing conditions, housing policy and tenure distribution as they provide a context to possible explanations for health variations by housing tenure, including health related selection into different tenure types. We then use 2015-2021 data from a large nationally representative UK survey to analyse associations between housing tenure and self-reported disability among those aged 40-69 controlling for other socio-demographic factors also associated with health. We additionally examine changes in the association between housing tenure and self-reported disability in the population aged 25 and over in the first two decades of the 21st century and project trends forward to 2030.

Results

Results show that associations between housing tenure and disability by tenure were stronger than for any other indicator of socio-economic position considered with owner-occupiers having the best, and social renters the worst, health. Differences were particularly marked in reported mental health conditions and in economic activity, with 28% of social renters being economically inactive due to health problems, compared with 4% of owner-occupiers. Rates of disability have increased over time, and become increasingly polarised by tenure. By 2020 the age standardised disability rate among tenants of social housing was over twice as high as that for owner occupiers, with projections indicating further increases in both levels, and differentials in, disability by 2030.

Discussion

These results have substantial implications for housing providers, local authorities and for public health.

Principles of Researching Health Disparities in Longitudinal Cohort Studies Enrolling Children

Health disparities are defined on the basis of specific populations that, when compared to the general population, have a significant disparity on the rate of disease incidence, prevalence, morbidity, mortality, or survival. People that experience health disparities can be defined by multiple criteria. As the diversity of the United States broadens and increases, research on the origins and causes of health disparities becomes more important to support a healthy general population. Children are particularly sensitive to and vulnerable to health disparities due to the potentially life long consequences of events during periods of critical organ, intellectual and social development. The concept of health justice whereby each individual has the opportunity to realize their full health potential can only be realized with proper understanding and relevant data to frame practice, policy and actions. The National Children's Study (NCS) was a longitudinal birth cohort study designed to incorporate the principles of the Federal Collaboration on Health Disparities Research in consultation with subject matter experts, community representatives, and ongoing evaluation to ensure high quality and relevant data on factors that impact health outcomes. The NCS developed and tested a model of enrolling a diverse population, capturing and integrating data using a life course framework, constructing individual profiles, then aggregating individuals into groups based on profiles and outcomes. This approach is applicable to other longitudinal cohort studies.