The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Half of Scots link societal injustice and poor health
Survey: 72% of people say gap between those with high and low incomes is too large
Around half of Scots believe injustice in society is behind some people having poorer health than others, according to a study.
A survey by the Scottish Centre for Social Research found a majority of people believe there are differences in people’s health based on their financial situation and the type of area they live in.
Some 51% of those questioned agreed with the statement that “certain people’s health is worse than others because of injustice in our society”.
More than a quarter, 27%, disagreed with the statement while 21% were neutral or did not know.
Women were more likely than men to point the finger at societal injustice, while those on the left of the political spectrum were more than six times as likely to do so compared with those on the right.
In further findings, 72% of people agreed the quality of the house people live in contributes to health differences, while 82% said a factor was people not having learned to make healthy choices.
More than two-thirds of Scots, 67%, think people’s health is worse because they are poor.
The report, entitled Scottish Social Attitudes – Public Attitudes to Inequality, was commissioned by NHS Health Scotland in 2016.
Health inequalities are defined as unfair and avoidable differences in people’s health across the population and between specific population groups.
The report found seven in 10 people (71%) felt those with more money are better able to live healthy lives.
A similar proportion (72%) said people living in better-off areas tend to be healthier than those living in worse-off areas. However, under half (48%) felt this represents a big problem.
A majority, 58%, said they would be willing to pay higher taxes to improve the health of poorer people in Scotland.
The majority of people in Scotland, 72%, agreed the gap between those with high and low incomes is too large.
Six in ten (62%) think individuals are more responsible than the government for their own health, but half of Scots said they would like government to do more to reduce differences in health between those on high incomes and those on low incomes.
Susan Reid, research director at Scotcen, said: “Today’s findings illustrate that the vast majority of Scots believe that poverty is related to having poorer health and overwhelmingly perceive the income gap as too large.”
Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell said: “Tackling inequality is crucial to improving the health of many people in Scotland, and continues to be central to the government’s policies.”