ABSTRACT
Social inequalities in health have been documented in several countries. They have also been shown to persist over time, widening in recent years in many high-income countries. The policy responses of governments to the global financial crisis has, furthermore, brought new challenges in relation to reducing inequalities. By 2015, the UK government, for example, plans to spend a lower proportion of its GDP than any other major European country, the consequence of which will be a reduction in public services and welfare benefits. These trends are likely to widen inequalities at a faster rate than in the previous decade. Indeed, it seems that countries with large inequalities are less likely to invest in collective goods, relying instead on behaviour change interventions. Given the evidence indicating that social inequalities in health have structural origins, this is likely to be a public health policy that widens rather than narrows health inequalities.
