The financial crisis and health equity in Ontario

In fact, the field of health equity starts from the assumption that many of the differences in health outcomes between different segments of the population are directly traceable to inequalities in the underlying social and economic conditions that are essential for health. [...] Consequences of three decades of neoliberal policy include the widening of social disparities, the concentration of income and wealth among a few at the top of the social hierarchy, and state retrenchment in the provision of social services, including quality health care. [...] A deeper examination of the rise of precariousness in the labour force can offer a rather different picture, due to the negative effects of the further flexibilization of the labour marked associated with the financial crisis, as discussed in more detail below. [...] In fact, the loss of policy space is arguably increasing in the aftermath of the financial crisis, as political actors seem to be responding directly to the dictates of financial markets, irrespective of their position in the international system. [...] The deep impacts of the global financial crisis on health equity are already present in some European countries, and a range of studies have started to report the health implications of the financial crisis as they percolate down to the level of health policy making through a number of avenues.