Why does Health Share of Income Increase over Time?

This paper deals with the view that income elasticity of health care is larger than one, as argued by empirical results on the literature. We build a theoretical model that shows that endogenous demographic transition may play a fundamental role on this result. It is argued that families must choose the number and the life expectancy of their members. Due to limited resources, there is a trade-o. between those two variables though. It is shown that increases on income may produce a demographic transition that allows a larger allocation of resources to health care.