Determinants of health in Belarus: evidence from the “Income and Expenditures of Households” Survey

Pavel M. Grigoriev, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Olga G. Grigorieva, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

The consequences of the socio-economic crisis emerged in Belarus after the collapse of the USSR such as falling living standards, poverty, the erosion of the health and social security systems had a negative impact on the health status of the population. The analysis of the aggregated demographic and socio-economic indicators is not sufficient to judge to what extent the mentioned above negative changes have contributed towards worsening the health situation, what are the characteristics of population groups affected at most, and what is the relationship between individual income and health. On the basis of data from the “Income and Expenditures of Households” Survey conducted in Belarus annually since 1995 this study aims at estimating the impact of a number of socio-economic, demographic and lifestyle variables on the individual health status. Given the well-established relationship between self-rated health and mortality, our findings facilitate further research on mortality determinants in Belarus.