It is not necessarily countries who are wealthier overall that always have the best
life expectancy rates. Many studies show that the more equitable the distribution of
wealth in a country – or the smaller the difference in income between rich and poor
people – the healthier the population is. So those countries who have the fairest
sharing of income have the best life expectancy, both for people with the highest and lowest
incomes.
In what parts of the world is the life expectancy higher?
Japan is often used as an example. Over a 30-year period, Japan moved from being a
country with high infant death rates and low life expectancy, to having the lowest infant
death rate and one of the highest life expectancies.
During the same period the Japanese economy strengthened, and incomes increased. As
well, Japan developed a very equitable distribution of wealth. Of all industrial
countries, Japan now has the smallest difference in income between the top and bottom 20
per cent of earners.
How do we compare here in Canada?
Interestingly, Japan spends a much lower percentage of its resources on health care
than Canadians or Americans do. While Japan spends only 6.8 per cent of its gross domestic
product on health care, Canada spends about 10 per cent. In 1998, Japan’s infant
death rate was 4 of every 1,000 infants under one year old. This is compared to almost 6
in Canada, and 7 in the US.
In Canada, government social programs and the income tax system have had some effect in
reducing the income gap, but more needs to be done to reduce these major differences in
income. In recent years, the disparity between rich and poor has been increasing. For
example, in 1994 the richest 10 per cent of Canadian families’ average total income
was 8.7 times that of the poorest 10 per cent of families; by 1996 it was 10.2 times
greater.
What can we do to improve Canadians’ life expectancy?
As we’ve seen, one way to improve the overall health of our citizens – all of
our citizens – is to ensure that our wealth is distributed equitably. Among other
things, this involves putting taxes and other policies in place that regulate how
resources are distributed, in order to minimize the gap between the rich and the poor.
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