The report presents a mass of empirical evidence showing that the incidence of premature death, obesity, high blood pressure, accidents and mental health problems is higher among the poor and unskilled than among the well-off. In the early 1970s the mortality rate for unskilled men of working age was almost twice that for professional men. Today it is almost three times higher. Inequalities in health are directly linked to inequalities in income, the report acknowledges. About 60 percent of the population have below average income.
Poverty has a disproportionate effect on children.
One in three children were living in poverty in the mid-1990s, and many people on low incomes do not have the money needed to ensure good health, the report states. Often money allocated for food is used to meet emergencies, forcing mothers to sometimes go without eating. In addition, many pregnant women receiving welfare benefits have inadequate diets, especially women under 25 years of age. This makes fresh produce almost impossible to obtain at reasonable prices due to inadequate or prohibitively expensive public transport. Mothers often shop alone to curtail expenditure and shop frequently to prevent food being eaten before it is essential.