272 29 Life expectancy: women now on top everywhere Barford, A. Dorling, D., Davey Smith, G. and Shaw, M. (2006) ‘Editorial: Women’s life expectancy’, British Medical Journal, vol 332, pp 1095-6. During 2006, even in the poorest countries, women can expect to outlive men. Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition. (Timothy Leary, 1920–96) The year 2006 should not be allowed to pass without at least a quiet celebration that this is the first year in human history when—across almost all the world—women can expect to enjoy a longer life expectancy than
153 12 Time for a smoke: one cigarette is equivalent to 11 minutes of life expectancy1 Shaw, M., Mitchell, R. and Dorling, D. (2000) ‘Time for a smoke: one cigarette is equivalent to 11 minutes of life expectancy’, British Medical Journal, vol 320, p 53. Editor—Studies investigating the impact on mortality of socioeconomic and lifestyle factors such as smoking tend to report death rates, death rate ratios, odds ratios, or the chances of smokers reaching different ages. These findings may also be converted into differences in life expectancy. We estimated how
333 42 The fading of the dream: widening inequalities in life expectancy in America International Journal of Epidemiology (2006) vol 35, no 4, pp 979–80 ‘Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play Where seldom is heard a discouraging word And the skies are not cloudy all day.’ [Popular Cowboy Song, undated, verse] Studies of health inequalities in the United States are relatively rare, especially considering the extent of those inequalities in comparison with other countries;1 the population size of the United States in
265 28 Global inequality of life expectancy due to AIDS Dorling, D., Shaw, M. and Davey Smith, G. (2006) ‘HIV and global health: global inequality of life expectancy due to AIDS’, British Medical Journal, vol 32, pp 662-4. Summary points • Inequality in mortality between continents reflects the inequality in gross domestic product per capita. • Inequality of health and wealth between continents began to rise in the early 1980s. • Africa has been most affected by the widening global inequality in mortality, probably as a result of the AIDS pandemic
Health inequalities are the most important inequalities of all. In the US and the UK these inequalities have now reached an extent not seen for over a century. Most people’s health is much better now than then, but the gaps in life expectancy between regions, between cities, and between neighbourhoods within cities now surpass the worst measures over the last hundred years. In almost all other affluent countries, inequalities in health are lower and people live longer.
In his new book, academic and writer Danny Dorling describes the current extent of inequalities in health as the scandal of our times. He provides nine new chapters and updates a wide selection of his highly influential writings on health, including international-peer reviewed studies, annotated lectures, newspaper articles, and interview transcripts, to create an accessible collection that is both contemporary and authoritative. As a whole the book shows conclusively that inequalities in health are the scandal of our times in the most unequal of rich nations and calls for immediate action to reduce these inequalities in the near future.
New public health governance arrangements under the coalition government have wide reaching implications for the delivery of health inequality interventions.
Through the framework of understanding health inequalities as a 'wicked problem' the book develops an applied approach to researching, understanding and addressing these by drawing on complexity theory. Case studies illuminate the text, illustrating and discussing the issues in real life terms and enabling public health, health promotion and health policy students at postgraduate level to fully understand and address the complexities of health inequalities.
The book is a valuable resource on current UK public health practice for academics, researchers and public health practitioners.
What risks and insecurities do older people face in a time of both increased longevity and widening inequality?
This edited collection develops an exciting new approach to understanding the changing cultural, economic and social circumstances facing different groups of older people. Exploring a range of topics, the chapters provide a critical review of the concept of precarity, highlighting the experiences of ageing that occur within the context of societal changes tied to declining social protection. Drawing together insights from leading voices across a range of disciplines, the book underscores the pressing need to address inequality across the life course and into later life.
The first digital-only ebook taster of Unequal health: The scandal of our times by Danny Dorling. Competitively priced, it gives a flavour of one of the major themes: public health and contains three chapters from the book, preceded by an all-new introduction specially written by Danny Dorling. This ‘must-read’ will introduce an even wider readership to his work.
In the context of global ageing societies, there are few challenges to the underlying assumption that policies should promote functional health and independence in older people and contain the costs of care. This important book offers such a challenge. It provides a critical analysis of the limitations of contemporary policies and calls for a fuller understanding of the relationship between health and care throughout the life-course. Located within the tradition of the feminist ethic of care, the book provides a fresh insight into global policy debates and the impact that these have on people’s experiences of ageing. Including international evidence on health inequalities, health promotion and health care, this book will be of interest to a range of social scientists, particularly specialists in gerontology and social policy.
Foreword by Lisa Berkman, Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University
How welfare states influence population health and health inequalities has long been debated but less well tested by empirical research. This book presents new empirical evidence of the effects of Swedish welfare state structures and policies on the lives of Swedish citizens.
The discussion, analysis and innovative theoretical approaches developed in the book have implications for health research and policy beyond Scandinavian borders. Drawing on a rich source of longitudinal data, the Swedish Level of Living Surveys (LNU), and other data, the authors shed light on a number of pertinent issues in health inequality research while at the same time showing how health inequalities have evolved in Sweden over several decades. Topics covered include how structural conditions relating to family, socio-economic conditions and the welfare state are important in producing health inequalities; how health inequalities change over the lifecourse and the impact of environment on health inequalities - at home, at school, in the workplace.
Health inequalities and welfare resources will be invaluable to researchers, students and practitioners in sociology, social epidemiology, public health and social policy interested in the interplay between society and health.
