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To What Extent Does Poverty Explain Scotland’s Poor Health Profile?

13 pages

Scotland has the poorest health (lowest life expectancy) of any Western European nation. Although there is an undisputed link between poverty – in Scotland’s case often related to deindustrialisation – and poor health, this does not explain all of Scotland’s higher mortality when compared to England, Wales and many other European countries. This paper suggests a number of possible explanations for this, many of which are the subject of ongoing research. This paper is part of a series of papers which have resulted from the Whose Economy? seminar series, held in Scotland in 2010 – 2011, whose purpose was to provide a space for researchers, representative organisations, policy-makers and people with experience of poverty to come together and explore the causes of poverty and inequality in today’s Scotland.

KeywordsHealth systems Social protection Poverty in the UK Inequality United Kingdom