The widening gap: Health inequalities and policy in Britain

✍ Scribed by Mary Shaw; Daniel Dorling; David Gordon; George Davey Smith

• Publisher: Policy Press
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 291
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Relentlessly, the wide health gap between different groups of people living in Britain continues to get even wider. This book presents new evidence (which was not available to the government's Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health) on the size of the gap, and the extent to which the gap is widening. In particular, new geographical data are presented and displayed in striking graphical form. It challenges whether the government is concerned enough about reducing inequalities and highlights the living conditions of the million people living in the least healthy areas in Britain. It presents explanations for the widening health gap, and addresses the implications of this major social problem. In the light of this evidence the authors put forward social policies which will reduce the health gap in the future. The widening gap synthesises all the information available to date and should be read alongside the report of the evidence presented to the Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health (Inequalities in health, The Policy Press, 1999) and by all those concerned with reducing health inequalities. Studies in poverty, inequality and social exclusion series Series Editor: David Gordon, Director, Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research. Poverty, inequality and social exclusion remain the most fundamental problems that humanity faces in the 21st century. This exciting series, published in association with the Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research at the University of Bristol, aims to make cutting-edge poverty related research more widely available. For other titles in this series, please follow the series link from the main catalogue page.

✦ Table of Contents

THE WIDENING GAP
Contents
List of tables and figures
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Glossary
1. Introduction
From the Black Report to the Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health
Reducing inequalities in health
The widening gap
2. The health gap
Introduction
Early life – infant and child mortality
Childhood poverty
Education – inequalities between children
Occupation – inequalities in working life
Adults not in work
Income by constituency
Poverty, deprivation and health
Unemployment – inequalities in the labour market
Inequalities in illness
Wealth – houses and car ownership
Retirement
Conclusion – poverty and health from the cradle to the grave
3. Explaining the gap
Introduction
Lifetime social circumstances
Dimensions of socio-economic position
Education and health
Communities and socio-economic position
The multidimensional nature of health inequalities
The explanations debate
Inequalities in health: one or many causes?
Conclusion
4. The widening gap
Introduction
The widening gap between communities
The widening employment gap
The widening income gap
The widening wealth gap
Childhood poverty
Rising numbers of avoidable deaths in Britain by age
Conclusion
5. Narrowing the gap – the policy debate
Poverty and inequalities in health
A short history of Labour’s policies on inequalities in health
Health Action Zones and area-based policies
Spreading the responsibility – thinly
Our Healthier Nation and ‘the Third Way’
The Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health
Saving lives – the government response
The problem of poverty and the problem of riches
Politics, public opinion and poverty reduction
Redistribution by stealth?
Reducing inequalities in health
The importance of services
Equity in service delivery
Child poverty and health
Ederly people and pensions
Disability, long-term illness and poverty
Objections to poor people getting more money
Conclusions
References
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Index