Are Inequalities in Health Increasing Today?

This essay will discuss, illustrate and evaluate the following statement: inequalities in health are increasing in the 21st century. The focus will be on one of the key determinants of health inequality, social class, specifically in the UK.
The World Health Organisation define health inequalities as; ‘differences in health status or in the distribution of health determinants between different population groups. Some health inequalities are attributed to biological variations or free choice and others are attributable to the external environment and conditions mainly outside the control of the individuals concerned’ (Who.int, 2013). Therefore, while some variation in health experience is unavoidable, much of it can be attributed to unequal opportunities, that is, social inequality (Tones and Green, 2004, p. 68).
Although philanthropic groups have been concerned about social inequalities for centuries, the issue of health inequalities in the UK was rejuvenated in the 1980s by the publication of the Black Report (Black and Townsend et al., 1982). Data amassed by the Black Report illustrated marked differences in mortality rates between the occupational classes, for both men and woman alike, at all ages. A class gradient was observed for most causes of death. The Black Report provided four theoretical explanations of the relationship between health and inequality:
Artefact explanations: The approach that both health and class are artificial variables of the measurement process, and thus any relationship observed must also be seen as an artefact of little causal significance. It is now widely accepted that statistical inaccuracies are not accountable for the enduring magnitude of the social gradient (Graham, 2009, p. 13)...

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...0). This should be considered when measuring the impact of the evidence illustrated in table 1. While investigation is still in its infancy, researchers are examining the influence of different dimensions of social class and its various associations with health, thus allowing more accurate connections to be made. For example, improvements have been made to the classification process with the introduction of the NS-SEC. Widely regarded as a more precise measure than the Registrar General’s Social Class classification, and now widely used in ONS, the NS-SEC addressed many of the discrepancies associated with the old classification (Donkin et al., 2002b). This classification is present in the evidence illustrated in table 2 and figure 1. Both sets of evidence clearly demonstrate that health inequalities, in relation to social class, have increased in the 21st century.