Health Sciences 3071A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Income Distribution, Whitehall Study, Living Wage
17 Dec 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Lecture Five
Online Lecture
Part one
▪ Health care is dependant one
o 50% Social and Economic Circumstance
o 25% Health Care
o 15% Biology and Genetics
o 10% Build and Natural Environment
▪ Income and Health
o Income is strongly related to other SDOH
▪ Education
▪ Housing
▪ Immigration
▪ Employment
▪ Access to healthcare
▪ Income Data Sources
o Self Reported
▪ They are easy to collect
▪ They have a higher potential for bias
o Canadian Census
▪ Was the golden standard until 2011
▪ Recent change to national household surveys limits usefulness
o Tax filer data
▪ Reliable
▪ Difficult to relate to income information to other factors
▪ Classifying Income
o Before tax vs after tax
o Individual income vs household income
o Absolute income
▪ Measure total amount of money earned
▪ Can be compared against the amount a family would need to
purchase a basket of goods
• Which is food, shelter, clothing etc
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
o Relative Income
▪ Considers position relative to others in a specific cohort or
geographic area
▪ Low relative income could be a source of unhealthy psychological
stress
▪ Income inequality
o Refers to the extent money is distributed unevenly within the overall
population
o Commonly measured using the Gini index
▪ But often represented as the share of overall income earned by
those in the top 1% of earners
▪ Globally, in Canada and in Toronto income inequality is rising
Income distribution in 1970
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Income distribution in 2000
Income and Health: Poverty
▪ Income allows people to purchase basic necessities such as
o Food
o Shelter
o Clothing
▪ Without these
• People are at much higher risk of serious negative health
outcomes
Income and Health: Low Income
▪ Chronic stressors in daily living are a constant source of adversity with a draining
capacity to cope
o Smoking, drinking, overeating are sources of pleasure, relaxation and
escape
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Part one: health care is dependant one, 50% social and economic circumstance, 25% health care, 15% biology and genetics, 10% build and natural environment. Income is strongly related to other sdoh: education, housing. Income allows people to purchase basic necessities such as: food, shelter, clothing, without these, people are at much higher risk of serious negative health outcomes. Income and health: social gradient: sir michael marmot showed the existence of a social gradient in health, with the whitehall studies. The unequal city article in 2008: differences in health between income groups, low-income groups had worse health, differences in health affected people in all income groups, not just the worst off. The unequal city article in 2015: current differences in health between income groups for 34 indicators, strength of the income and health relationship, how the relationship between income and health has changed over time.
