Socioeconomic and Gender Inequalities in Health Across the Life Course

Socioeconomic and Gender Inequalities in Health Across the Life Course

How do socioeconomic and gendered factors shape health and well-being from midlife to old age? How do inequalities in health and well-being present across different contexts? My research examines the social and gendered determinants of health disparities and their implications for aging populations across Europe.

Selected Publications:

Schmitz, A., Brandt, M., Levinsky, M., Wagner, M., & Cohn-Schwartz, E. (2026). Exploring gender disparities in cognitive performance in later life: The role of social participation across European welfare regimes. Social Science & Medicine, 394, 119070. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.119070

Schmitz, A.; Luy, M. & Lazarevič, P. (2024): No socioeconomic inequalities in mortality among Catholic monks: A quasi-experiment providing evidence for the Fundamental Cause Theory. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 66(3), 379–392. https://doi.org/10.1177/00221465241291847

Brandt, M.; Quashie, N. & Schmitz, A. (2023): Health inequalities in older age: The role of socioeconomic resources and social networks in context. In Handbook of Health Inequalities Across the Life Course. Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800888166.00023

Schmitz, Alina; Garten, Claudius; Kühne, Simon & Brandt, Martina (2022): Worries about inadequate medical treatment in case of a COVID-19 infection: The role of social inequalities, COVID-19 prevalence and healthcare infrastructure. BMC Public Health, 22(19), 1761. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14024-9

Schmitz, Alina (2021): Gendered experiences of widowhood and depression across Europe. The role of loneliness and financial resources from a longitudinal perspective. Journal of Affective Disorders, 380, 114-120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.11.091

Schmitz, Alina & Lazarevič, Patrick (2020): The gender health gap in Europe’s ageing societies – Universal findings across countries and age groups? European Journal of Ageing, 17, 509-520 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-020-00559-6

Schmitz, Alina & Brandt, Martina (2019): Gendered patterns of depression and its de-terminants in older Europeans. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 82, 207-216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2019.02.015

Schmitz, A. (2019): Gesundheitliche Ungleichheiten im Alter: Theoretische Perspektiven und methodische Herausforderungen. Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie, 52(2), 116–121. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00391-019-01518-2

Schmitz, A. & Pförtner, T.-K. (2018): Health inequalities in old age: The relative contribution of material, behavioral and psychosocial factors in a German sample. Journal of Public Health, 40(3), e235–e243. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdx180