Health inequalities
Trends | Geography | Deprivation | Ethnicity | Disability
About 3 mins
Why do inequalities matter for health?
Good health and wellbeing enable us to live happy, fulfilling lives and free us up to achieve our potential. But we don’t all have the same opportunities to live healthy lives. There are stark health inequalities linked to where we live, the circumstances we grow up in, our ethnicity and our disability status.
These differing health outcomes partly reflect deep-rooted inequalities in the building blocks of health, also known as the wider social determinants of health. These building blocks – like adequate income, secure employment and quality housing – all shape a healthy society.
Stigma, discrimination and lack of opportunities can impact on groups of people with certain characteristics, such as our ethnicity or disability status, and can lead to barriers accessing services and the building blocks of health.
Where we live can also determine our ability to access building blocks such as jobs, education and income. Differences in health outcomes can exist between, as well as within, regions and neighbourhoods.
Trends in health and inequalities
Tracking health trends helps us to see whether a population’s health is improving or deteriorating over time. Measures like life expectancy at birth give insight on the overall picture of health, while income and employment trends reveal the main sources and drivers of inequality.
Neither health nor inequality can be captured by a single measure. We use healthy life expectancy, mortality rates and self-reported wellbeing as indicators of health. Some inequalities – like differences in access to quality health care or employment – are harder to measure because of limited data and their complexity.
How does geography and where you live affect health inequalities?
Our geography, or where we live, determines which jobs and incomes are available to us, and often reflect socio-economic inequalities embedded within and across regions. Factors such as income, employment, education and access to services all influence health outcomes, meaning areas with contrasting characteristics experience different levels of health and wellbeing.
Urban and rural settings each bring distinct advantages and challenges. Rural areas often provide cleaner air and more green space, which can support physical and mental health. However, they may lack reliable public transport and nearby services, making access to health care and other essentials harder. In contrast, urban areas typically provide better access to jobs, services, and health care, but residents may face higher levels of pollution, noise and overcrowding, which can negatively impact health.
How does deprivation affect health inequalities?
Deprivation is when people and households lack the ability to attain the essential resources required for a decent quality of life. These include a stable income, warm housing, education and health care.
Deprivation is a major driver of health inequalities because people in poorer areas, or who are unable to afford basic necessities, face higher rates of chronic illness, shorter life expectancy, and more years living in poor health. It also limits people’s access to health care and exposes individuals to risk factors like poor housing, food insecurity and stress, creating a cycle of disadvantage.
How does ethnicity affect health inequalities?
Health varies across ethnic groups in the UK, and is shaped by social and economic factors, as well as environment and health-related behaviours such as diet, exercise and sleep. Discrimination and racism can also affect health, both through stress and by creating barriers to employment, housing and health care.
Migration adds complexity. Migrants to the UK often have better health outcomes than people born in the UK, possibly because healthier people are more likely to migrate or maintain healthier lifestyles.
How does disability affect health inequalities?
Social and environmental factors such as stigma, discrimination, lack of opportunities and barriers in health care can worsen health for disabled people, and make it harder to take part in education, work and community life.
