Asian Pacific Journal of Disease Management
Online ISSN : 1882-3130
ISSN-L : 1882-3130
Originals
The Income Elasticity of Education and Tobacco Smoking in Japan: The Family Income and Expenditure Survey during the 2000–2005 Year Period
Junko YanoTruong-Minh PhamShinya Matsuda
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2010 Volume 4 Issue 4 Pages 83-87

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Abstract

The inequalities in health among groups of socioeconomic status constitute the challenges for public health. Lower mortality and morbidity is associated with almost any positive indicator of socioeconomic status. The negative health effects of smoking have been raising serious concerns all over the world and the previous studies have indicated the significant relationship between smoking and socioeconomic status. The present study aimed to examine the income elasticity of education and tobacco smoking by using the 2000–2005 Family Income and Expenditure Survey in Japan. The results are very interesting. The elasticity of education being consistently greater than unity suggested that education is very important demand for Japanese household. By contrast, an increase in income leads to a fall in the tobacco smoking suggesting that people living in the household of lower socioeconomic status were likely to consume more tobacco. This finding would help to anti-smoking strategies by taking into consideration of the people living in the low income households. The implementation of these anti-smoking strategies should be very important in view of human health as well as economic matters.

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© 2010 Japan Society of Health Support Science
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