Unequal Lives: Health and Socioeconomic Inequalities / Edition 1

by Hilary Graham

Overview

"With the compelling evidence that more redistributive universal welfare benefits and education provide the main escalator to reducing inequalities, this is a timely and thought-provoking book for all those concerned to reduce our societies’ embedded structural inequalities, cumulative disadvantages and health inequalities."

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

"Unequal Lives is the book that we have all been waiting for. In this skilfully crafted volume, Hilary Graham makes the vital connection between health inequalities and social inequalities in a way that opens up new understandings of both concepts and consequences for policy. Scholarly yet accessible, this is a 'must read' book for researchers, policymakers and practitioners alike."

Margaret Whitehead, WH Duncan Professor of Public Health, University of Liverpool, UK

"The book has high educational value and is worthy of being considered as a resource for students in relevant courses. It will also be helpful for policymakers, clinicians and social workers, especially those settling and the changes in health outcomes are being observed. The author should be congratulated for bringing clarity to a complex, interlacing and intricate relationship of social and health sciences."

Nilamadhab Kar, MD, DPM, DNB

Consultant Psychiatrist, Wolverhampton City Primary

Care Trust; Resource Person, Quality of Life Research

and Development Foundation, UK and Consultant Psychiatrist, Mental Health Directorate,

Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust, Steps to

Health, Showell Circus, Wolverhampton, UK.

• What is meant by health inequalities and socioeconomic inequalities?
• What evidence is there to support the link between socioeconomic status and health?
• Why do these links persist over time, between and within societies, and across people’s lives?
• What part do policies play in the persistence of social and health inequalities?

Unequal Lives provides an evidence-based introduction to social and health inequalities. It brings together research from social epidemiology, sociology and social policy to guide the reader to an understanding of why people’s lives and people’s health remain so unequal, even in rich societies where there is more than enough for all.

The book introduces the non-specialist to key concepts like health inequalities and health inequities, social class and socioeconomic position, social determinants and life course, as well as to the key indicators of health and socioeconomic position.

It provides a wealth of evidence on socioeconomic inequalities in health at both national and global level, and explores how these inequalities persist as countries industrialise, patterns of employment and family life change, and chronic diseases emerge as the big killers.

Consideration is given to policy and its impact on inequalities within the UK, Europe and beyond and an assessment made of health inequalities throughout the life.

This new book from best selling author Hilary Graham is of particular interest to students in sociology, social policy, health studies, health promotion and public health as well as to social work and community nursing students and those working in the health and welfare fields.

Customers in the USA can place orders by visiting www.openupusa.com or calling 1 800 338 3987.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780335213696
Publisher:	McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing
Publication date:	09/01/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	260
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

Hilary Graham is a professor of Health Sciences at the University of York, UK. Her background is in sociology, social policy and public health.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements     x
Introduction     xi
Key Terms     1
Health inequalities and inequities     3
Introduction     3
What are health inequalities?     4
What are health inequities?     10
Conclusions     17
Measuring health and health inequalities     19
Introduction     19
Measuring health: mortality-based measures     20
Measuring health: measures based on people's assessment of their health status     24
Measuring health: measures of development and decline     28
Measuring health inequalities     30
Conclusions     34
Socio-economic inequalities     36
Introduction     36
Researching socio-economic inequalities     37
Socio-economic position as a structural location     40
Socio-economic position as actively produced     41
Childhood and parenting     44
Conclusions     46
Measuring socio-economic position     48
Introduction     48
Measurement of socio-economic position     50
Measures of socio-economic position     52
Conclusions     61
Patterns     63
Health inequalities: global, national and historical     65
Introduction     65
Global health inequalities     66
Socio-economic inequalities in health within countries     72
Socio-economic inequalities in health over time     76
Conclusions     81
Health inequalities across changes in disease     82
Introduction     82
Socio-economic inequalities in health across changes in causes of death     82
Social patterning of risk factors for chronic disease     86
Conclusions     94
Understandings     97
Social determinants of health and health inequalities     99
Introduction     99
The emerging focus on social determinants     100
Models of the social determinants of health     104
Social position as a key determinant of health     111
Conclusions     113
Socio-economic inequalities across generations: occupation and education     114
Introduction     114
Changes in the labour market     115
Class origins and class destinations: inequalities across generations     121
Class inequalities in educational trajectories      124
Class inequalities in educational opportunities     128
Conclusions     132
Socio-economic inequalities across people's lives: partnership and parenthood     134
Introduction     134
Partnership, parenthood and adult socio-economic position     135
Widening inequalities in domestic trajectories     137
Young motherhood     140
Conclusions     142
Health across unequal lives     144
Introduction     144
The socio-economic life course and health     145
Socio-economic inequalities in developmental health     150
Socio-economic inequalities in functional ageing     156
Conclusions     158
Unequal lives: policy matters     160
Introduction     160
Policy approaches to tackling health inequalities     161
Welfare systems and socio-economic inequalities     164
Widening income inequalities     172
Conclusions     175
Concluding comment     177
Notes     182
References     184
Index     211