[Income differences in health and life expectancy--cross-sectional and longitudinal findings of the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP)].

Income is an important determinant of individual standards of living and participation in social life. Data from the German Socio-Economic Panel shows that the level of income also affects a person's health and life expectancy. People's self-assessment of their health and health-related quality of life follow a distribution pattern which can be described as a gradient: the lower the income, the more frequent the impairments to subjective health. Life expectancy statistics also reflect income differences, primarily due to premature deaths among lower-income groups. Clues for explaining income-related differences in health and life expectancy can be found in the results on health-related behaviour and use of the medical system: people in the lower income groups smoke more frequently, are slaker in sports and are less likely to go to a doctor when their health is impaired. Furthermore, work environment and job-specific influences, stress burdens and reactions, social comparison processes and disease-induced processes of declining social mobility and social exclusion are discussed as possible explanations.