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. 2023 Sep;64(3):336-353.
doi: 10.1177/00221465231166334. Epub 2023 Apr 25.

The Effect of Welfare State Policy Spending on the Equalization of Socioeconomic Status Disparities in Mental Health

Matthew Parbst  1 , Blair Wheaton  1
Affiliations

The Effect of Welfare State Policy Spending on the Equalization of Socioeconomic Status Disparities in Mental Health

Matthew Parbst et al. J Health Soc Behav. 2023 Sep.

Abstract

This article examines whether and how the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and depression is modified by welfare state spending using the 2006, 2012, and 2014 survey rounds of the European Social Survey (ESS) merged with macroeconomic data from the World Bank, Eurostat, and SOCX database (N = 87,466). Welfare state spending effort divided between social investment and social protection spending modifies the classic inverse relationship between SES and depression. Distinguishing policy areas in both social investment and social protection spending demonstrates that policy programs devoted to education, early childhood education and care, active labor market policies, old age care, and incapacity account for differences in the effect of SES across countries. Our analysis finds that social investment policies better explain cross-national differences in the effect of SES on depression, implying policies focused earlier in the life course matter more for understanding social disparities in the mental health of populations.

Keywords: depression; social investment; social protection; socioeconomic status; welfare state.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Between-Country Moderating Effect of Social Investment Spending on Education, Occupation, and Income on Depression. Note: Data are from Rounds 3, 6, and 7 of the European Social Survey.
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