Abstract

In this paper we examine some issues of distributive justice in relation to the distribution of health in a population. Our focus is on socioeconomic inequalities in health within a society. Research suggests that socioeconomic status and level of education are strongly correlated with level of health such that those with lower status in a society are relatively sicker than their counterparts who have higher status. Importantly, the correlation we are concerned with is not the obvious correlation between poor health and absolute material deprivation, or poor health and bad health habits. In nearly all countries, those at the bottom of the socioeconomic scale suffer anywhere from 2–4 times the mortality and morbidity rates of those at the top. This startling statistic apparently holds true regardless of differences in the material position of the worst-off. Moreover, even in the wealthiest countries the groups who have the highest status enjoy better health and longer life than those who have the next-highest status, and so on down the socioeconomic scale. Our question is whether these social inequalities in health are unjust in and of themselves.