This study examined whether wealth gradients in the incidence of illness decline with age, and, if so, whether this decline is explained by differential mortality, in an analysis of data from the first two waves of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), a large national longitudinal study of the population aged 50+ in England, who reported good health, no functional impairment, or no heart disease at baseline. Wealth inequalities in onset of illness over 2 years were examined across age groups, with and without the inclusion of mortality. Wealth predicted onset of functional impairment equally across age groups. For self-reported health and heart disease, wealth gradients in the onset of illness declined with age. Selective mortality contributed to this decline in the oldest age groups.
