Demographic inequalities as determinants and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia

Since early March 2020 Latvia is fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Lessons learned from this crisis will be instrumental in shaping future public health policy. Any policy response to the pandemic must be tailored to the particular risks within population in order to avoid the unnecessary social and economic damage on a national and international scale. Available literature on the topic highlights region-specific demographic factors associated with elevated population vulnerability to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to ascertain the role of a pre-existing demographic inequalities in Latvia in the onset and progression of COVID-19 pandemic and lay groundwork for projectin…

Healthy and active pre-retirement and retirement ages: elderly inequality in Latvia

Pre-retirement and senior population groups are more affected by activity limitations, unemployment and bad perceived health than population in active ages. Data for Latvia and other EU countries demonstrate a warning situation – socio-economic inequalities among elderly are not diminishing as fast as was expected. The aim of the paper is to analyse healthy and active life in pre-retirement and retirement ages to detect changes and inequalities complying with active ageing and public health. Analysis is based on Population Census and SILC data on national, regional and smaller territorial level. Regression models are used to study causal links and relations between the underlying social and…

Life expectancy and mortality – achievements and challenges

Economic cycles and inequalities in alcohol‐related mortality in the Baltic countries and Finland in 2000–2015: a register‐based study

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Addiction published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for the Study of Addiction. Aim: To estimate whether large macroeconomic fluctuations in the 2000s affected inequalities in alcohol-related mortality in the Baltic countries and Finland. Design: Longitudinal register-based follow-up study. Setting: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland. Participants: General population in the 35–74 age group. Measurements: Socioeconomic status was measured by the highest achieved educational level and was categorised using the International Standard Classification of Education 2011 as low (included categories 0–2), middle (3–4), and high (5–8). Educat…

Macroeconomic fluctuations and educational inequalities in suicide mortality among working-age men in the Baltic countries and Finland in 2000–2015: A register-based study

Abstract Introduction In the 2000s, the Baltic countries experienced unprecedented economic growth followed by a deep recession. This study aimed to examine changes and educational inequalities in suicide mortality among working-age men in the Baltic countries and Finland in relation to macroeconomic fluctuations. Methods We analysed changes in overall suicide mortality and by educational level between the 2000–2003, 2004–2007, 2008–2011 and 2012–2015 periods among men aged 30–64 years using census-linked longitudinal mortality data. We estimated age-standardised mortality rates, mortality rate ratios (Poisson regression), the relative index of inequality and slope index of inequality. Resu…