Are racial/ethnic inequalities in health and wealth widening with age. Racial/ethnic disparities in both health and wealth are well-documented. However, it is unclear whether Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics follow different health and wealth trajectories in the transition from mid- to later-life. The poorer health of racial/ethnic minorities is well-established, but the way in which the race/ethnicity-health relationship varies with age is not. While this problem has received some attention, no consensus exists in research findings to date. This lack of consensus may stem from inconsistencies in, and limitations of conceptual, methodological, and data choices. For instance, most aging studies that explore race differences in health dynamics have used time instead of age as the metric. In addition, many studies fail to account for nonrandom sample attrition (e.g., mortality), which may bias estimates of racial disparities in health trajectories, given the large race difference in mortality rates. Black and Hispanic households are also disadvantaged on wealth accumulation. While disparities in wealth levels are well-documented, less is known about how age-based wealth trajectories (intra-individual rates of change in wealth with age) vary by race/ethnicity. The present study is designed to address these gaps in the literature by using a life course perspective, seven waves of panel data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), and age-based latent trajectory models (LTM). Consistent with NIA areas of emphasis, specific aims of the present study are to: 1) investigate whether racial/ethnic disparities in health are persistent, decreasing, or increasing with age, 2) determine the degree to which specific life course factors (e.g., childhood SES, adult SES, wealth, health behavior, and family factors) mediate the age-based association between race/ethnicity and health, 3) examine whether racial/ethnic disparities in wealth are persistent, decreasing, or increasing with age, and to 4) determine the extent to which specific life course factors (e.g., SES, work, family, expectations, and health factors) mediate the age-based association between race/ethnicity and wealth. Research on the health and economic well-being of older people in racial and ethnic minorities is particularly important as the composition of the elderly population is projected to become increasingly diverse over the next half century, with dramatic increases in the proportion of older Blacks and Hispanics. ? ? ? ?
