SURVEYS OF LIVING CONDITIONS (SLCs): REPORTED HEALTH AND POVERTY IN THE CARIBBEAN

摘要

The relationship between reported health and socioeconomic status is something of a conundrum. In the Surveys of Living Conditions that have been carried out in a number of Caribbean territories the poor consistently report better levels of health than the non-poor. This flies in the face of anecdotal knowledge as well as morbidity and mortality data from official sources. In this paper an attempt is made to account for this enigma. LSMS data from a number of Caribbean territories are analyzed in order to arrive at a proper understanding of the relationship between these variables. The health policy implications that follow from this analysis are addressed.