The Society and Population Health Reader - v. 1 : Income Inequality and Health

The first volume of a two-volume reader concerned with the findings of leading social scientists and medical researchers around the world.

Contributors to this survey of the connections between social structures and public health, reveal that life expectancy, illness and other health factors are closely related to the structure of a given society, and that variations in health within a population are primarily related to socio-structural factors, including income inequality, educational differences, lack of opportunity and racism.This volume indicates that societies with inequalities such as these (for example, Great Britain and the USA) have far greater tolls of certain illnesses, and lower life-expectancy rates, right across the social spectrum, than do more equitable societies.

The contributors argue that the growing gap between rich and poor has dramatic consequences for entire populations; and that given these findings, even a modest reduction in income inequality would yield a significant health improvement for all.