Social Inequality and Ill-Health

This paper discusses the impact of social inequality on the ill-health of Australians, focusing on factors such as income, wealth, social power, ancestry, ethnicity, and schooling. It highlights the disparities in health outcomes and the need for measures to address social inequality.

Running head: SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND ILL-HEALTH
SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND ILL-HEALTH
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Australia is place rich in flora and fauna of various kinds. The country is home to a
variety of cultures and a multitude of human population. Inspite of having a jolly life most
people residing have been falling short of a healthy one. Owing to various factors, people living
with disability, on average, experience considerably lower health than those people without the
misfortune of any disability. The social inequality within Australia refer to the development of
the issues that are presented due to the various factors that lead to the areas of discrimination
(Dorling, 2015). These areas include the income of the concerned person, the wealth of the
concerned person, the social power that is enjoyed by the person, the factors that are inclusive of
the ancestry, ethnicity and the racial positioning of the person concerned as well as the schooling
of the concerned person. The following paper attempts a discussion on the effect of the social
inequality that exists within the territorial boundaries of Australia and the effects that are
presented within the given country in terms of the ill management of the health conditions within
the country.
Social Inequality
The social inequality refers to the presence of the unequal opportunities that are presented
to the citizens of the country. The social inequality that is presented within the various countries
of the world refer to the differences that have been existent within the opportunities and the
proper amount of rewards that are presented to the residents of the country on the basis of the
issues that are presented in terms of the differences in the social status and the social position of
the concerned person. The inequality is generally observed to be majorly present within a certain
group of the society at large. The social inequality within the given country refer to the
development of the issues that are presented due to the various factors that lead to the areas of

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discrimination (Hurst, Gibbon & Nurse, 2016). These areas include the income of the concerned
person, the wealth of the concerned person, the social power that is enjoyed by the person, the
factors that are inclusive of the ancestry, ethnicity and the racial positioning of the person
concerned as well as the schooling of the concerned person. The major reasons of the social
inequality within the country refer to the impact of the poverty within the given country
(Goldthorpe, 2017). The presence of the poverty within the countries would lead to the major
area of discrimination within the country as well.
The poverty that is existent within the society might be explained through the two
different approaches towards the activity. These refer to the blaming of the poor people residing
within the society as well as the throwing the blame on the societal structure that is followed
within the country (Lareau, 2015). A certain section of the society tends to claim that the people
who have been residing within the country are themselves responsible for their own poverty.
Raudenbush and Eschmann (2015) stated that the people who hold the poor people to be
responsible for their own poverty opine that the given country or the society at large offers a
plethora of various job offers to the residents of the country and thus provides the scope for the
eradication of the poverty within the given societal boundaries.
On the other hand, the people who hold the society responsible for the presence of
poverty within the country have different opinions. The experts of this school of thought tend to
opine the fact that the societal activities and the loss of the jobs within the inner cities tend to
contribute more to the unemployment of the concerned members of the society. This in turn
leads to the increase in the poverty within the country (Uhlmann, 2016). This in turn leads to the
increase in the levels of the social inequality within the concerned countries (Western &
Tomaszewski, 2016). The social inequalities within the Australian territory reveals that the gap

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that exists within the social classes is huge. The surveys reveal that the people belonging to the
highest income scale earns five times more than those who belong to the lower income scale
within the country. According to Rush, Healy and Arunachalam (2015), this has led to the
increase in the gap between the residents of the country on the basis of the income of the
concerned people.
Ill-health
Australia is place rich in flora and fauna of various kinds and needless to say home to a
variety of cultures and a multitude of human population. Inspite of having a jolly life most
people residing have been falling short of a healthy one. There are quite a few causes of ill health
in Australia. Chronic diseases such as cancer, coronary disease and diabetes are among the few
main causes of misery and ill-health in Australia (Schnall et al., 2018). Two-thirds of the load of
such miserable health issues, is due to the diseases like cardiovascular diseases, various types of
cancer, musculoskeletal conditions, mental disorders and substance use disorders, and injuries.
However, all the population groups do not have the same health situation. Owing to
various factors, people who have been living with the conditions of disability, averagely
experience considerably lower health as compared to people without the misfortune of any
disability. Nearly one out of five Australians, which is nearly 4.3 million residents, have the
misfortune of disability. Around one out of three people with disability have excessive limitation
to a considerable degree (Marmot, 2015).
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's Australia's Health 2016 report says that
Australian boys have a normal life expectancy of around eighty years while girls make it up to
their nineties. However, it has been seen that although the life expectancies are longer, they live

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with chronic heart diseases. All together cancer has surpassed cardiovascular diseases to become
the leading cause of deaths and illness (Perez et al., 2015). On the other hand, due to the
population growth chronic diseases have come into place. The most common of this being
arthritis with cardiovascular disease. Marmot and Bell (2016) state that apart from having a high
blood pressure to having abnormal cholesterol levels, nearly a quarter of the Australian
population hosts a high rate of biomedical risk factors.
Asthma followed by anxiety disorders, was the main problem creator in five to fourteen-
year old boys. However, girls the order was reversed. The males majorly lost their health
conditions due to self-inflicted injuries and the suicidal activities. However, the anxiety disorders
remained the main factor that affected the health of the females (Aihw.gov.au., 2016). The five
risk factors involved in Australian Burden of Disease Studies that caused the highest issues were
high body mass, high usage of alcohol and tobacco, high blood pressure and physical inactivity.
Certain reports show that 22% of all the cancer types are caused by tobacco use, 4.5% results
from high body mass, 3.3% is caused by high usage of alcohol. 6.4% follows from the physical
inactivity (Aihw.gov.au., 2016).
However, this is only that part of the population which has the luxury of commanding
power and money. They can avail treatment at various hospitals and if needed they can also avail
state-of-the-art treatment whenever they need it. The other stratum of the society is far more
neglected and can’t avail the medications for their treatments (Willis, Reynolds, & Keleher,
2016). This other face of the society includes the poor people, the tribal people and the
aboriginals who seldom get treatment due to the social inequality involved. These people mostly
fall sick due to malnourishment or under-nourishment (Ha et al., 2016). In addition to that most
often proper clothing or shelters remain unavailable to them resulting in poorer health. Strong

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measures need to be taken to ensure that the neglected strata of the society get adequate care and
medical attention to ensure their proper livelihood.
Impact of social inequality on the ill-health of Australians
The social inequality within the country of Australia is known to have major effects on
the development of the health conditions within the country. The social constraints that have
been present within the country have a greater impact on the development of the issues that are
presented in the health factors that are presented within the given country. The given country
faces serious issues due to the implementation of the social inequality within the given social
conditions (Pockett & Beddoe, 2017). The majority of the issues are known to be affecting the
population of the country refer majorly to the issues of the social inequalities within the country.
The social determinants that are majorly present within the country tend to affect the health of
the concerned person. The social inequalities within the given country majorly affects the
Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islanders who have been present within the given territories of
the country.
The social inequality within the given country refer to the development of the issues that
are presented due to the various factors that lead to the areas of discrimination (Slade, Oades &
Jarden, 2017). The social inequality factors affecting the health of Australia include the income
of the concerned person, the wealth of the concerned person, the social power that is enjoyed by
the person, the factors that are inclusive of the ancestry, ethnicity and the racial positioning of the
person concerned as well as the schooling of the concerned person. The other stratum of the
society is far more neglected and can’t avail the medications for their treatments (Willis,
Reynolds, & Keleher, 2016). This other face of the society includes the poor people, the tribal

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people and the aboriginals who seldom get treatment due to the social inequality involved. These
people mostly fall sick due to malnourishment or under-nourishment (Perez et al., 2015).
). A certain section of the society tends to claim that the people who have been residing
within the country are themselves responsible for their own poverty. Raudenbush and Eschmann
(2015) stated that the people who hold the poor people to be responsible for their own poverty
opine that the given country or the society at large offers a plethora of various job offers to the
residents of the country and thus provides the scope for the eradication of the poverty within the
given societal boundaries. The population of Australia faces further issues due to the lack of
proper financial strength. It is observed that most often proper clothing or shelters remain
unavailable to the poorer sections of the society which in turn leads to the poorer health
conditions. Strong measures need to be taken to ensure that the neglected strata of the society get
adequate care and medical attention to ensure their proper livelihood.
Conclusion
Thus, from the above discussion, it might safely be stated that the social equality within
the country of Australia has been responsible for the conditions of the ill-health and the
discrimination in the medical services that are received by the residents of the country. The
residents of the county are observed to have been living with disability, on average, experience
considerably lower health than those people without the misfortune of any disability. The social
inequality factors affecting Australia generally include the income of the concerned person, the
wealth of the concerned person, the social power that is enjoyed by the person, the factors that
are inclusive of the ancestry, ethnicity and the racial positioning of the person concerned as well
as the schooling of the concerned person. The social inequalities within the given country
majorly affects the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islanders who have been present within the

7SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND ILL-HEALTH
given territories of the country. The social inequalities within the Australian territory reveals that
the gap that exists within the social classes is huge. The surveys reveal that the people belonging
to the highest income scale earns five times more than those who belong to the lower income
scale within the country. The concerned governmental bodies within the territorial boundaries of
Australia are advised to implement strong measures in order to control the increase in the social
inequality within the residents of the country and grant them access to all the facilities within the
country irrespective of any discrimination.

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