Background: Our paper investigates the relationship between family income and child health in France. We first examine whether there is a significant correlation between family income and child general health, and the evolution of this relationship across childhood years. We then study the role of specific health problems, access to health care, and supplemental health insurance coverage, in the income gradient in general health. We also quantify the role of income in child anthropometric measurements. Whenever possible, we compare our results for France with those obtained for other developed countries.
Methods: Using data on up to approximately 24,000 French children from the Health, Health Care and Insurance Surveys, we apply econometric techniques to quantify the correlation between household income, child general health, specific health problems, anthropometric characteristics, access to health care, and supplemental insurance coverage.
Results: There is a positive and significant correlation between family income and child general health in France. The income gradient in child general health is possibly smaller in France than in other developed countries. The gradient in general health is explained by the greater prevalence of specific health problems for low-income children. In addition, income is strongly correlated with anthropometric characteristics. Access to health care, and supplemental health insurance coverage are probably not major determinants of the gradient in general health.
Conclusion: The relationship between income and health in adulthood has antecedents in childhood. Improving access to health care services for children from low-income families may not be enough to decrease social health inequalities in childhood.