The overall aim of this thesis is to contribute to a greater understanding of how social inequalities in health evolve causally and to explore the missing links between social position and health in different social and economic contexts. A premise in the thesis is that in affluent societies, not only material aspects and purchasing power linked to income and social positions are important explanations for the health of individuals, but also the relative socio-economic standards in society. The concept of relative income position was used to explore this notion across time and country contexts: A comparison of income-related health inequalities between the different welfare contexts of Sweden and Germany showed similar magnitudes in poor health. When exploring the role of absolute and relative income changes over time in Sweden, income volatility was found to influence individuals’ health. Another aim was to explore the specific social mechanisms reflecting intra- and interpersonal social comparisons and their role for health. Subjective measures of social position were found to capture non-material aspects of social positions. Self-rated class affinity revealed strong associations with health, particularly for women. Income satisfaction, predicting mortality, was shown to be a measure that accounts for internalized reference standards regarded as meaningful by individuals. Conceptually, the used subjective measures capture aspects of social comparisons and relative deprivation and further suggest that not the material dimension of social position alone matters for health. It is also shown that income satisfaction operates as a mediator between income position and mortality. Subjective measures such as income satisfaction and class affinity provide a plausible link in the understanding of how social inequality entails persistent effects on health and mortality. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript.</p>

Retirement saving research frequently has investigated the differences between working men and working women and primarily focused on the near retirement and retirement years. There is limited research targeting young to old working-age women including those who do not work for pay and are unemployed. The purpose of this study was to examine what factors affect non-retired working-age (25 years and older) women's retirement saving behaviors, retirement savings, and retirement income satisfaction. To implement the study, a research framework was developed based on Deacon and Firebaugh's Family Resource Management Model. The research framework for this study consisted of three major sections: (a) input (demographics, saving motives, retirement saving involvement level, retirement information seeking, current financial assets and debts, and future expectations), (b) throughput (retirement saving behaviors such as calculating needed retirement savings, being a retirement saver, starting saving for retirement age, and being a regular retirement saver), and (c) output (the objective retirement savings and the subjective retirement income satisfaction). An online survey instrument was developed to obtain data for the study. Two pilot tests were conducted to confirm the validity and reliability of the instrument. Data for this study were collected from a national population between May 25, 2012 and May 30, 2012 with 591 valid responses. Several statistical methods were employed: descriptive statistics, one-way between-groups analysis of variance (ANOVA), direct logistic regression, and standard multiple regression. From the results of the study, only about one-third of the women (31.8%) reported they expect to get the full amount of Social Security retirement income that today's retirees get. However, around 60% of the women only save less than $25,000 or none in employer-provided retirement accounts or in personal investments and savings. There is an un-addressed gap between the cognition of the need to save for retirement and real saving action. A regular retirement saver is more likely to save more in employer-provided retirement accounts and to feel more satisfied with that retirement income. Yet, regular retirement savers have less savings in personal investments and savings, possibly because they believe their work investments will be sufficient or some women may make direct deposits to meet the annual limits of retirement plans. Other researchers have not reported this relationship. Those women who are more cognitively involved with saving for retirement are more likely to calculate needed retirement savings and to be a retirement saver, but they are less satisfied with retirement income from Social Security and from personal investments and savings. Satisfaction level is subjective; thus, those who expect to own more types of assets in retirement may have a higher satisfaction level with the expected income from both employer-sponsored retirement accounts and personal investments and savings. Generally, greater satisfaction with expected retirement income is associated with higher accumulation in retirement savings, and the female savers have much more retirement savings than non-savers. However, there is no difference in the retirement income satisfaction of savers and non-savers. These findings have implications for financial educators, counselors and advisors, researchers, employers, and policy makers. There are recommendations for women and future research. / Ph. D.

The broad objective of this thesis is to study the patterns of objective and subjective well-being among the immigrants in Europe. The main part of the thesis consists of three single-authored empirical chapters. The first chapter analyzes the longitudinal patterns of relative poverty among the foreign-born in Sweden. The second chapter examines the mechanisms of occupational attainment, occupational mobility and long-term occupational cost of migration among Senegalese immigrants in France, Spain and Italy. The third chapter analyzes life satisfaction and income satisfaction among immigrants in Germany. At the most general level, the results in the empirical chapters suggest that the objective well-being improves with duration of stay at destination, even if very gradually for some immigrant groups, while, on the other hand, there is a ceteris paribus negative relationship between the subjective well-being and duration of stay. A number of other findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the processes associated with the well-being among immigrants. / L'objectiu general d'aquesta tesi és estudiar les pautes del benestar objectiu i subjectiu dels immigrants a Europa. La part principal de la tesi consisteix en tres capítols empírics d'autoria única. El primer capítol analitza les pautes longitudinals de pobresa relativa entre els nascuts a l’estranger a Suècia. El segon capítol examina els mecanismes d’obtenció d’ocupació, la mobilitat i cost professional a llarg termini de la migració entre els immigrants d’origen senegalès a França, Espanya i Itàlia. El tercer capítol analitza la satisfacció general amb la vida i la satisfacció amb els ingressos entre els immigrants a Alemanya. Els resultats en els capítols empirics suggereixen, a nivell general, que el benestar objectiu millora a mida que creix la durada de l’estada en el lloc de destí, tot i que de manera molt gradual per alguns grups d’immigrants, mentre que, d’altra banda, hi ha una relació ceteris paribus negativa entre el benestar subjectiu i la durada de l’estada. Diversos resultats contribueixen a una comprensió més matisada dels processos associats amb el benestar entre els immigrants.

Family structure affects not only household income but can influence how revenues contributeto financial satisfaction. That is to say, it is possible that a certain family structure can be more efficient in producing satisfaction than another. Using microdata from the National Household Survey (ENAHO) 2013, a probit econometric model is proposed for urban households in Peru, in which the likelihood of satisfaction with household income is a function of income itself, both in absolute terms and relative to other households, and of various household characteristics, including aspects of family structure. Analysis of ENAHO 2013 reveals that 80.2% of house- holds report being satisfied with their income; satisfaction levels among lone parents are the lower than in other groups (77.3%) and the highest satisfaction levels are reported by married couples with children and cohabiting couples with children (82.8% and 80.3% respectively). Results of the regression model support the conclusions of other studies, in that per capita hou- sehold income has a positive impact on the probability of income satisfaction; however, it is not the only significant variable. In particular, we have found evidence that the difference between household expenditure and average household expenditure in the region (a measure of relative expenditure) also influences the likelihood of income satisfaction, as well as changes in household economy relative to that of other households in the area. Regarding family structures considered in the study, households of married couples with children, cohabiting couples with children, and cohabiting couples without children are less responsive than other households in several variables: number of household members, income per capita, difference between household expenditure and the regional average, and university education of the household head. In single- parent households in general, satisfaction with income is particularly sensitive to changes in the number of household members, per capita income, difference between household expenditure and the regional average, university education of the household head, and perception of declinein household living standards relative to other households in the area. / La estructura familiar no solo afecta los ingresos del hogar, sino que puede influir en la maneracomo los ingresos contribuyen a la satisfacción financiera. Es decir, para un mismo nivel de ingresos, es posible que una estructura familiar sea más eficiente en producir satisfacción que otra. Utilizando los microdatos de la Encuesta Nacional de Hogares (Enaho) 2013, se plantea un modelo econométrico tipo probit, para los hogares urbanos en Perú, en que la probabilidad de satisfacción con los ingresos del hogar es una función del ingreso mismo, tanto en términos abso- lutos como en relación con los demás hogares, y de diversas características del hogar, incluyendo aspectos de la estructura familiar. El análisis de la Enaho 2013 revela que el 80,2% de los hogares indica estar satisfecho con sus ingresos; los niveles de satisfacción de los hogares monoparentales son los menores entre los grupos (77,3%) y los niveles más altos son reportados por los casados con hijos y convivientes con hijos (82,8% y 80,3% respectivamente). Los resultados del modelo de regresión respaldan las conclusiones de otros estudios, según los cuales el ingreso per cápita del hogar tiene un impacto positivo en la probabilidad de satisfacción con los ingresos del hogar; sin embargo, no es la única variable significativa. En especial, se ha encontrado evidencia de que la diferencia del gasto del hogar respecto al gasto promedio de los hogares de la región (una medida de gasto relativo) también influye sobre la probabilidad de satisfacción con los ingresos, así como la evolución de la economía del hogar en comparación con la de los demás hogares de la localidad. Por lo que se refiere a las estructuras familiares consideradas en el estudio, los hogares casados con hijos, convivientes con hijos y convivientes sin hijos se han mostrado menos sensibles que el resto de hogares en diversas variables: número de miembros del hogar, ingreso per cápita, diferencia del gasto del hogar respecto al promedio regional, percepción de deterioro relativo del nivel de vida del hogar y estudios universitarios del jefe de hogar. En los hogares monoparentales, en general, la satisfacción con los ingresos se muestra especialmente sensible frente a cambiosen número de miembros del hogar, ingreso per cápita, diferencia del gasto del hogar respecto al promedio regional, estudios universitarios del jefe del hogar y percepción de deterioro del nivel de vida del hogar relativo a otros hogares de la zona.