Implications of Public Policy Change Models for Addressing Income-Related Health Inequalities
There are differing interpretations among health researchers about how income inequality leads to health inequalities, but there is consensus that income inequality is cause for concern. Alarms have also been sounded by public policy researchers and institutes, which see income inequality as having a corrosive effect on society by hindering economic growth, dampening political participation, and eroding quality of life. This article examines how various public policy models explain and promote policy change to reduce income inequality. The focus of this article is on income inequality, but its raison d’etre is the assumption that income inequality is an important driver of the health inequalities that both diminish and prematurely end life.