The increasing attention from Labour ministers to inequality as the root of a wider range of socioeconomic evils is very much to be welcomed. Now, hot on the heels of the Hills report comes the Marmot review, reinforcing the message about the damage inequality does.
What’s important about Marmot’s report is the emphasis he places on preventative strategies, and the need for adequate incomes to secure better health. Labour has attended to both, with popular policies from the smoking ban to free school meals and winter fuel payments, but there’s more to do.
Incomes matter to health because they help meet costs, such as a decent diet and keeping homes warm and dry. So here are two next steps to take.
First, the level of income support, especially for under-25s, needs to rise – the babies of young women conceiving on very low incomes face a high risk of low birth-weight, with the long-term health problems that brings. And alongside Marmot’s call for an increase in the minimum wage, more is needed to help those with long-term or mental health problems or disability find and keep good jobs. As Carol Black’s earlier report reminded us, good work is good for your health. Welfare reforms have prioritised moving claimants off incapacity benefits into work, but the quality and sustainability of those jobs must be guaranteed too.
As a GP I am very disappointed to see no comments on this most incredibly important issue.
Locally and recently I was concerned at the elision in the “Healthcare for London” consultation between the differing life expectancies in different areas of London and variations in NHS provision (then used to justify changes in the provision of services). I know of no evidence relating such difference in provision to long term health outcomes, whereas there is very strong evidence, as shown by Michael Marmot, that both physical and mental health inequalities are strongly related to inequalities in income.
Fiddling around with opening hours at GP surgeries will do nothing for the health of the nation. Increasing the minimum wage to a living wage WOULD make a difference.