WGPlus (Archive)
What about teaching better life skills (especially home cooking) as well? |
NHS Health Scotland has published a report comparing the impact of income-based policies on health & health inequalities for the Scottish population. They found that increasing means-tested benefits by 50%, introducing Citizen's Basic Income schemes that incorporate Income Tax increases, increasing devolved benefits by 50%, and introducing the real Living Wage could all help to reduce health inequalities and improve health in Scotland. They used the ScotPHO 'Informing Interventions to reduce health Inequalities' tool (the Triple I tool) to model the impact of income policies on health & health inequalities. The basis of the tool is that health improves as household income increases. They compared a range of policies across three categories: taxation-based, benefits-based and some new approaches, including two Citizen's Basic Income policies. Of the policies we modelled, they found that the introduction of the Citizen's Basic Income scheme with additional payments for disabled people would be most cost-effective for both reducing premature deaths and reducing health inequalities. They found that the most effective income-based policies for reducing health inequalities are likely to be those that disproportionately increase incomes for those with the lowest incomes. Action on income is not just reserved to one or two agencies; a wide range of local and national stakeholders can play a role in influencing household income and, in turn, health. |
Researched Links: |
NHS Health Scotland: Comparing the impact of income policies on health & health inequalities NHS Health Scotland: Reducing Health Harms of Foods High in Fat, Sugar or Salt ScotGov: Improving Scotland’s diet But what are these the measures of poverty? Social Metrics Commission launches a new measure of UK poverty Shocking impact of welfare cuts revealed UK welfare cuts pushing more families into poverty Equality Commission reports on progress towards socio-economic equality Cost of the school day resources Tackling poverty and inequalities Poverty affects educational attainment Strengthening family food support Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan We welcome the Scottish Government’s Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2018-2022 Support for low income families IPPR Scotland: Ending the Benefit Cap and ‘Rape Clause’ in Scotland could lift 15,000 out of poverty Universal Credit contributing to child poverty JRF: Scotland must take steps to prevent country’s record on poverty unravelling Children in families with limited resources across Scotland 2014-2016 Living Wage Nation |