Article,
Beyond the income inequality hypothesis: class, neo-liberalism, and health inequalities
Social Science & Medicine (1982), 58 (1): 41--56 (January 2004)PMID: 14572920.
Abstract
This paper describes and critiques the income inequality approach to health inequalities. It then presents an alternative class-based model through a focus on the causes and not only the consequences of income inequalities. In this model, the relationship between income inequality and health appears as a special case within a broader causal chain. It is argued that global and national socio-political-economic trends have increased the power of business classes and lowered that of working classes. The neo-liberal policies accompanying these trends led to increased income inequality but also poverty and unequal access to many other health-relevant resources. But international pressures towards neo-liberal doctrines and policies are differentially resisted by various nations because of historically embedded variation in class and institutional structures. Data presented indicates that neo-liberalism is associated with greater poverty and income inequalities, and greater health inequalities within nations. Furthermore, countries with Social Democratic forms of welfare regimes (i.e., those that are less neo-liberal) have better health than do those that are more neo-liberal. The paper concludes with discussion of what further steps are needed to "go beyond" the income inequality hypothesis towards consideration of a broader set of the social determinants of health.
Tags
- adolescent,
- adult,
- aged,
- child,
- class,
- countries,
- developed
- factors,
- health
- humans,
- indicators,
- infant
- infant,
- justice,
- medical,
- middle
- mortality,
- newborn,
- political
- politics,
- poverty,
- preschool,
- social
- socioeconomic
- sociology,
- status
- systems,
- world
