New research proves that the health gap between the richest and the poorest is at an all-time high.
The study by researchers from Bristol and Sheffield looks at early death rates since 1921 and finds that people in the most deprived areas are much more likely to die younger than those in the richest, and that the situation now is no better than that in the 1930s.
It is shocking reading. Between 1999 and 2007, there were more than twice as many deaths before the age of 65 in the poorest areas as in the richest (212 to every 100).
This compared with 191 deaths in the poorest areas to every 100 in the richest between 1921 and 1930, and 185 deaths from 1931 to 1939 — a time, lest we forget, of economic depression and the aftermath of the Second World War, and one that preceded the introduction of the NHS.
The analysis shows that in the interim period — from 1940 onwards — health inequalities narrowed, but widened again in the past 20 years.
It is difficult to understand why this is. The 13 years of Labour rule brought huge investment in health, with greater focus on allocating resources in a way that took account of the needs of disadvantaged sections of society. While some of this policymaking was vague, it was at least part of a concerted effort to move away from the postcode lottery entrenched under Margaret Thatcher.
For starters, poverty indicators are difficult to navigate, as they do not improve or worsen in tandem. A recent LSE-led study into poverty and inequality since 1997 found that there were significant reductions in child and pensioner poverty, but not for working-age poverty. Educational attainment in the poorest areas improved, while health inequalities remained.
Why the particular difficulty with health? One argument is that it is too early to judge the full impact of some of the targeted health spending. However, the more prescient point is that health, probably more than any other area, is inextricably tied into other inequalities — unemployment, poor education, generational deprivation.
A 2005 study noted that “reducing overall income inequality [was] not a New Labour aim”. The gap between those at the very top and those at the very bottom actually increased — and there you have your answer. We may have a far superior health service to 50 years ago, but tackling this gap must start with the causes, rather than just treating the cure.
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