Chee Hon Chan1,2, Ho Kit Wong2, Paul Siu Fai Yip3,4. 1. Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong. 2. Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong. 3. Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong. sfpyip@hku.hk. 4. Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong. sfpyip@hku.hk.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association of relative income deprivation (RID) with perceived happiness and self-rated health in Hong Kong. METHODS: We measured RID on Yitzhaki indices constructed using multiple reference groups and used multilevel ordinal logistic regression models to assess its linkages with the two outcomes, using data from 6272 respondents from a large-scale representative household survey. RESULTS: Among the overall population, increased RID was found to be consistently associated with reduced perceived happiness, even after adjusting for respondents' level of absolute income and other socio-demographic covariates; however, there were no consistent associations between RID and self-rated health. In subgroup analysis, we observed significant linkages between RID and self-rated health only among men, the middle and older age ranges, and among those with less education and those not engaged in economic activities. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that RID is adversely associated with perceived happiness. However, its negative linkage with self-rated health is less clear. The weak tie between RID and self-rated health may relate to the Hong Kong context, where the public health system is relatively equitable and has multiple pro-poor health policies.
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association of relative income deprivation (RID) with perceived happiness and self-rated health in Hong Kong. METHODS: We measured RID on Yitzhaki indices constructed using multiple reference groups and used multilevel ordinal logistic regression models to assess its linkages with the two outcomes, using data from 6272 respondents from a large-scale representative household survey. RESULTS: Among the overall population, increased RID was found to be consistently associated with reduced perceived happiness, even after adjusting for respondents' level of absolute income and other socio-demographic covariates; however, there were no consistent associations between RID and self-rated health. In subgroup analysis, we observed significant linkages between RID and self-rated health only among men, the middle and older age ranges, and among those with less education and those not engaged in economic activities. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that RID is adversely associated with perceived happiness. However, its negative linkage with self-rated health is less clear. The weak tie between RID and self-rated health may relate to the Hong Kong context, where the public health system is relatively equitable and has multiple pro-poor health policies.
Entities:
Keywords:
Chinese; Happiness; Relative income deprivation; Self-rated health; Social inequalities