Income and economy: introduction

The links between the health of individuals and of populations, and socioeconomic circumstances, including employment, are well recognised in academia and have been the subject of many studies and much theorising. In their conceptual model of health, Evans and Stoddart (1994), recognised the crucial role of prosperity as a key health determinant. The WHO (World Health Organisation) report The Solid Facts - Social Determinants of Health (2003) noted that "unemployment puts health at risk" and goes on to underline that "unemployed people and their families suffer a substantially increased risk of premature death" and that "the health effects of unemployment are linked to both its psychological consequences and financial problems, especially debt".

This report also notes that having a job is not necessarily protective of mental and physical health. Job quality is important and fears over job security - which is a growing issue due to global changes in the economies and labour markets - can lead to anxiety and greater self reported ill-health.

Income and employment are recognised as not only key determinants of overall health but also as important drivers underlying health inequalities. The Final Report of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health (2008) underlines this view. The Commission noted that if health inequalities are to be successfully tackled, there is a need to ensure that social protection measures "support a level of income sufficient for healthy living for all" and that "full and fair employment and decent work" should be a central economic policy goal for governments. The recent Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England Post 2010 (2010) also concluded that "having insufficient money to lead a healthy life is a highly significant cause of health inequalities". Indeed income and employment are considered to essential to official approaches to takling inequality that income deprivation and employment deprivation are two of the main domains of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), which provides these types of data broken down to a small area level (data zones) across the whole of Scotland.

Given the breadth of this area and its clear links to health, there are not surprisingly related pages in other parts of this site, including deprivation and health inequalities.

The data pages of this section provide a selection of tables/graphs which are meant to be illustrative rather than comprehensive, while the key data sources page provides links to a range of useful Scottish, UK and international web resources.