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Family income is a measurement of economic position of individuals who are considered to be part of one familial unit. Income is broadly inclusive of wages, pensions, investments, governmental assistance or benefits, rent earnings, and any other source of finances. In sociodemographic and epidemiological research, family income is often used interchangeably with household income. However, household income denotes all individuals who are living in the same home, regardless of whether they are blood relatives, legally-bound, or neither. On the contrary, family income typically refers to individuals who are related by blood or by law, especially in societies in which there is a large emphasis on nuclear family compositions (e.g., father, mother, and minor children) (see Family, Structure). Consequently, household income and family income are not always equivalent.
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There is significant evidence to suggest that income is associated with...
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References and Readings
Auerbach, J. A., & Krimgold, B. K. (Eds.). (2001). Income, socioeconomic status, and health: Exploring the relationships. Washington, DC: National Policy Association.
Galobardes, B., Lynch, J., & Davey Smith, G. (2007). Measuring socioeconomic position in health research. British Medical Bulletin, 81, 21–37.
Krieger, N., Williams, D. R., & Moss, N. E. (1997). Measuring social class in US public health research: Concepts, methodologies, and guidelines (Review). Annual Review of Public Health, 18, 341–378.
Shavers, V. (2007). Measurement of socioeconomic status in health disparities research. Journal of the national medical association, 99(9), 1013–1023.
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Wang, J.T., Newman, S.J. (2013). Family, Income. In: Gellman, M.D., Turner, J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_955
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_955
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