A positive indicator of a good social and economic status is good health, specifically higher life expectancy, lower mortality rate, and less morbidity level per population. In turn, these are affected by factors directly linked to personal or household income, like physical condition, nutrition, and occupation.
Simply put, the better the income level, the better the health, and the longer the life of a person, and the society enjoys better productivity with less people afflicted by diseases. In short, they lead healthier, happier lives. Across the board, high income gap within a society or a nation affects an individual’s health in all its major aspect – physical, mental, and emotional.
Statistical evidence shows that among developed countries, societies that are more equal in income distribution – that is, the rich are not too far part from the middle class and the bottom wage earners – are happier and healthier.
But income inequality is on a worsening level on a global scale, with countries on the highest income inequality margin exhibiting even wider gaps than the previous years, like Mexico, Turkey, Portugal, Great Britain, and most of all, the United States.
Among Americans, a huge share of economic growth in the past 30 years has gone to the top 10 percent income earners at an average of $27 million per household. Meanwhile, the average income for the bottom 90 percent of Americans is at $31,244.
Data and their evaluations can be very overwhelming when it comes to the issue of income inequality. But to the average person, especially those who belong to the lowest earning income professions, there is nothing as credible as a proof than how their standard of living has fallen, and how the quality of their life is affected.
THE RICHER, THE HEALTHIER
The difference in the quality of life among the top and bottom income earners is best showcased by the ill effects of income inequality on health, and how the stability and reliability of state-run health programs become a matter of lifeline survival for the poor and even the middle class, and not just an issue of budgetary concerns like what it is to politicians.
Because the lowest income earners are in the midst of a long draught in income growth, they have to depend largely on state welfare to make both ends meet. With the upward redistribution of income and nothing much that trickles down to the bottom 90 percent, there is a projected shortfall of 43% in social security funds over the next 75 years, particularly health programs. That is how income inequality sidelined the majority of the American population.
In an analysis of health, income, and inequality conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research, it was found out that richer, better-educated people live longer than poorer, less-educated people.
This assertion is supported by the National Longitudinal Mortality Survey, which tracks the mortality of people who were previously interviewed in a survey meant to get data on health and income. Those whose family income in 1980 was greater than $50,000, (putting them at the top 5 percent) had a life-expectancy at all ages that was about 25 percent longer than those in the bottom 5 percent interviewed (family income of less than $5,000).
The so-called Hispanic Paradox also illustrates the relationship of social and economic level towards health and well-being. African-Americans who have long been associated with lower wages have higher mortality rates than their white counterparts, but Hispanic Americans have lower mortality rates than whites.
When it comes to mental well-being, income inequality has long been regarded as stimulus for the so-called status anxiety affecting mental health and resulting to social problems. By throwing people into a class hierarchy and increasing competition for status based on comparative income, many people are burdened by stress leading to poor health and similar negative outcomes.
INCOME EQUALITY AS A HEALTH BALM
Many epidemiologists or those who study the patterns among healthy and sick individuals in a population and determine the risk factors and solutions for illnesses argue that socioeconomic status is a fundamental factor for good health. These socio-medical professionals frequently endorse measures to improve health through changes in socioeconomic status. Surprisingly, it’s not only better education that is included in their proposals, but also increasing or redistributing incomes for the poor.
Conclusion:
We can significantly improve the real quality of human life by reducing the differences in incomes between the top and the bottom earners. Indeed, a form of income redistribution is crucial, urgent and important, especially where a healthier human resource is needed for a better economy.
In the words of world renowned epidemiologist and British researcher on social inequalities in health Richard Wilkinson, “income inequality, like air pollution or toxic radiation, is itself a health hazard. Even if economic policy has no direct effect on health, the relationship between health and economic status implies that social inequalities in health and well-being are also wider today.”
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